^ 


STATEMENT 


OF    SOME 


NEW    PRINCIPLES 


ON    THE    SUBJECT    OF 


POLITICAL    ECONOMY, 


EXPOSING  THE  FALLACIES  OF  THE  SYSTEM  OF 


FREE    TRADE 


AND  OF  SOME  OTHER  DOCTRINES  MAINTAINED 


IN    THE         WEALTH    OF    NATIONS. 


BY    JOHN    RAE 


When  we  reason  upon  general  subjects,  one  may  justly  affirm,  that  our  speculations  can 
scarce  ever  be  too  fine,  provided  the>   be  just. — Hume,  Essay  on  Commerce. 


BOSTON. 

HILLIARD,    GRAY,    AND    CO. 


1834. 


Entered  according  to  the  act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1834, 

by  HiLLiARD,  Gray,  &.  Co. 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts 


J.    D.    FREEMAN,    PRINTER, 
NO.    110,    WASHINGTON    STREET. 


no  oui 


PREFACE. 


[The  work  here  presented  to  the  American  reader,  was  composed  with  the 
intention  of  being  published  in  Great  Britain;  under  this  idea  the  following 
Preface  was  written.  As  it  explains  the  design  of  the  original  undertaking, 
it  has  been  thought  proper  that  it  should  retain  the  place  it  was  at  first  intend- 
ed to  occupy.] 

To  promote  prosperity  within,  to  guard  against  danger  from 
without,  have  ever  been  esteemed  the  two  great  branches  of  the 
duty  of  the  Statesman.  But  of  all  the  sources  of  internal  prosperity, 
or  means  of  repelling  external  aggressions,  no  one,  in  modern  times, 
is  of  greater  efficacy  than  wealth.  We  have,  therefore,  no  reason 
to  be  surprised,  that  statesmen  should  have  endeavored  to  procure 
for  their  respective  countries  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  it.  If 
the  laws  they  have  enacted,  and  the  regulations  they  have  for  this 
purpose  established,  have  really  answered  the  ends  they  were  in- 
tended to  promote,  they  are  certainly  praiseworthy. 

Gf  the  efficacy  of  such  laws,  for  those  purposes,  politicians  for 
a  long  time  did  not  doubt;  but  a  great  revolution  in  public  opinion 
has  taken  place,  and  almost  all  men  who  now  pretend  to  understand 
the  principles  that  should  govern  the  policy  of  nations,  agree  in 
condemning  them. 

This  revolution  in  the  opinions  of  men,  had  its  rise  in  France. 
It  might  have  died  there,  however,  with  the  sect  from  which  it  had 
birth,  had  not  a  man  of  surprising  genius,  placing  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  feeble  party  then  supporting  it,  enabling  them  to  give 
their  principles  currency  throughout  the  nations  of  Europe.  Adam 
Smith  will  be  recorded  among  remote  generations,  as  one  having 
powerfully  influenced  the  opinions  and  policy  of  the  civilized  world, 
during  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries.  His  great  work  no 
sooner  appeared  in  Britain  than  it  was  read,  and  the  opinions  it 
maintained  adopted,  by  every  one  who  pretended  to  any  knowl- 
edge of  the  important  subjects  of  which  it  treated.  It  quickly,  and 
with  like  success,  spread  through  other  lands.  Never  was  the 
force  which  mere  intellect  possesses  more  strikingly  manifested. 


IVl50Sfif.'1 


iv  PREFACE. 

To  illustrate  his  speculations,  to  cast  them  into  new  forms  suited  to 
the  varied  tastes  of  various  nations,  became  an  employment  by  which 
men  of  undoubted  genius  thought  themselves  honored.  His  rea- 
sonings are  the  basis  of  numerous  systems  and  innumerable  essays. 
A  voluminous  library  might  be  formed  of  the  works  of  men  who 
call  him  master.  Nor  were  the  dicta  of  a  retired  student  acquiesced 
in,  and  embraced,  only  by  theorists  like  himself  They  have 
cruided  the  councils,  they  have  formed  the  text  book  of  statesmen, 
and  have  had  an  important  influence  on  the  policy  of  nations. 

Against  doctrines  supported  by  so  great  a  weight  of  authority, 
what,  it  may  be  demanded,  can  possibly  be  urged?  and  how  comes 
it,  that  so  obscure  an  individual  as  the  author  of  the  following 
pages,  places  himself  in  opposition  to  them  ?  Custom  authorises 
me,  —  in  a  measure  calls  on  me,  —  in  answer  to  these  questions,  to 
state  to  the  reader  how  I  was  led  to  form  opinions  opposed  to  this 
system,  and  why  I  bring  those  opinions  before  him. 

Many  years  ago,  I  became  engaged  in  a  series  of  inquiries  into 
the  circumstances  which  have  governed  the  history  of  man,  or,  to 
vary  the  expression,  into  the  causes  which  have  made  him  what  he 
is  in  various  countries,  or  has  been  in  various  times.  It  seemed  to 
me,  that,  by  gathering  together  all  that  consciousness  makes  known 
to  us  of  what  is  within,  and  all  that  observation  informs  us  of  what 
lies  without,  the  real  agents  in  the  production  of  the  great  events 
by  which  the  fortunes  of  our  race  have  been  diversified,  might  be 
at  least  partially  discovered,  the  laws  regulating  their  procedure 
traced,  and  that  thus  the  materials  for  a  true  Natural  History  of 
man  might  be  reached.  The  pursuits  in  which  I  was  engaged  led 
me  to  the  subject  on  the  side  of  physiology,  and  what  is  termed 
metaphysics,  and  imagining  that  I  saw  a  ray  of  light  struggling 
through  the  obscurity  of  the  objects,  amidst  which  these  inves- 
tigations placed  me,  I  began  to  conceive  hopes  of  being  able  to 
dispel  some  of  the  darkness,  in  which  are  involved  causes  that  have 
produced,  and  are  producing,  results  of  the  highest  importance  to 
us.  To  this  pursuit  I  determined  to  devote  myself  Such  a  reso- 
lution would  scarcely  have  been  taken  by  any  one  unless  prompted 
by  the  enthusiasm  natural  to  youth,  and  would  not  have  been 
adopted  by  me,  had  I  not  had  the  prospect  of  enjoying  every  facility 
in  following  out  the  objects  I  had  in  view;  but  a  sudden  and  unex- 
pected change  took  place  in  my  circimistances,  and  I  exchanged 
the  literary  leisure  of  Kurope  for  the  solitude  and  labors  of  the 
Canadian  backwoods.  I  found,  notwithstanding,  that  this  accident 
could  not  altogether  put  a  stop  to  my  inquiries,  though  it  retarded 
them  and  altered  their  form. 


PREFACE.  ,  V 

I  had  early  turned  for  assistance  to  the  Inquiry  into  the  Nature 
and  Causes  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  and  to  the  speculations  of 
the  political  economists.  But,  I  found  their  scope  and  design  too 
confined,  to  advance  the  attainment  of  my  purpose  in  the  degree  I 
had  anticipated,  and  I  had  besides  the  mortification  of  perceiving, 
that  the  conclusions  to  which  they  led,  were,  in  many  points, 
opposed  to  those  at  which  I  had  arrived.  Encountering  opposition 
where  I  had  looked  for  support,  I  applied  myself  to  ascertain,  if 
possible,  the  cause,  and,  after  having  spent  considerable  time  in 
the  inquiry,  conceived  I  had  detected  enough  of  fallacy  in  the  spec- 
ulations, even  of  Adam  Smith  himself,  but  more  especially  of  his 
successors,  to  warrant  the  belief  that  my  conclusions  might  be  right, 
though  the  practical  rules  that  might  be  deduced  from  them,  would 
not  coincide  with  those  laid  down  in  what  is  termed  the  science  of 
political  economy.  But,  though  I  became  satisfied  on  this  head,  it 
was  not  my  intention  to  have  directly  attacked  any  of  the  tenets  of 
the  school.  Setting  out  from  a  new  point,  it  seemed  to  me,  that, 
however  far  I  might  advance,  it  would  not  be  necessary  for  me 
directly  to  oppose,  or  to  attempt  to  controvert,  any  received  opin- 
ions 

During  my  residence  in  this  country,  the  field  of  my  inquiries 
being  much  contracted,  I  again  recurred  to  the  disquisitions  of 
Adam  Smith,  and  of  other  European  writers  of  the  same  school,  in 
order  to  trace  out  more  fully  than  I  had  hitherto  done,  the  connex- 
ion between  the  phenomena  attending  the  increase  and  diminution 
of  wealth,  and  those  general  principles  of  the  nature  of  man,  and  of 
the  world,  determining,  as  I  conceive,  the  whole  progress  of  hu- 
man affairs.  Though  I  was  led  to  this  study,  simply  from  my  desire 
to  advance,  as  far  as  my  situation  permitted  me,  in  a  path  of  inves- 
tigation which  had,  to  me,  a  very  lively  interest,  my  prosecution  of  it 
had  the  eflfect  of  impressing  me  more  deeply  with  a  conviction  of 
the  unsoundness  of  the  system  maintained  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations. 

In  this  stage  of  my  progress  I  became  engaged  in  a  work  on  the 
present  state  of  Canada,  and  on  its  relations  with  the  rest  of  the 
British  Empire.  These  relations  seem  to  me  to  spring  from  the 
mutual  benefit  arising  to  the  colony  and  the  empire  from  their  con- 
nexion. The  sect  of  politicians,  to  whom  I  allude,  deny  that  any 
such  benefit  arises  to  either  party.  Were  their  reasonings  correct, 
it  would  follow  as  a  necessary  consequence,  that  Canada  is,  in  this 
respect,  of  no  advantage  to  Great  Britain,  and  would  go  far  to 
prove,  what,  indeed,  seems  by  many  to  be  believed,  that  the  sooner 
the  connexion  between  them  is  dissolved  the  better. 

Dissenting   as  I  do,  from  the  opinions  of  these  theorists,  it  ap- 


VI  PREFACE. 

peared  to  me,  that  the  work  I  had  undertaken  required  me  to  state 
some  of  the  reasons  on  which  I  grounded  this  dissent,  and  that, 
without  entering  at  length  into  any  of  the  important  questions 
involved  in  the  discussion,  I  should  be  able  at  least  to  cast  a  shade 
of  doubt  over  doctrines  asserted  with  great  dogmatism,  and  acted 
on  with  unhesitating  confidence.  In  endeavoring,  however,  for 
this  purpose,  to  arrange  a  series  of  arguments  drawn  from  a  modifi- 
cation of  principles  that  originally  suggested  themselves  to  me 
when  engaged  in  more  enlarged  inquiries,  my  work  gradually 
assumed  a  far  more  extended  and  systematic  form,  than  I  had  at 
first  meditated,  and  I  became  engaged  in  the  present  attempt,  to 
show  that  there  exist  great  and  radical  errors  in  the  whole  system, 
sufficient  to  vitiate  very  many  of  the  conclusions  drawn  from  it,  and 
from  the  fallacies  introduced  by  which,  the  doctrines  of  free  trade 
alone  derive  their  plausibility. 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  argument,  I  have  almost  entirely  con- 
fined myself  to  the  consideration  of  the  doctrines  to  which  I  am 
opposed,  as  they  are  developed  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations.  I  could 
not  have  done  otherwise,  without  becoming  involved  in  the  discus- 
sion of  contradictory  and  conflicting  opinions.  Neither,  as  I  con- 
ceive, is  this  limitation  of  essential  importance  to  the  determination 
of  the  points  in  debate.  If  Adam  Smith  be  essentially  wrong, 
none  of  his  followers  can  be  right.  The  system  established  by  him 
stands,  or  falls,  with  him. 

I  am  not  ignorant  of  the  dangers  to  which  this  attempt  subjects 
me.  Whoever  ventures  to  attack  a  system  received  so  generally, 
and  supported  by  so  great  a  weight  of  authority,  is  exposed  to 
various  evils.  They  who  have  embraced  its  principles  are  apt  to 
slight  and  neglect,  or,  if  that  may  not  be,  to  conceive  it  their  busi- 
ness to  overthrow  the  heterodox  doctrines.  What  of  error  they 
may  contain  is  eagerly  seized  on,  what  of  truth,  is  overlooked. 
"  Who,"  asks  Mr.  Locke,  "is  there,  hardy  enough  to  contend  with 
the  reproach  which  is  ever  prepared  for  him,  who  dares  venture  to 
dissent  from  the  received  opinions  of  his  country  and  party?  And 
where  is  the  man  to  be  found,  that  can  patiently  prepare  himself  to 
bear  the  names,  that  he  is  sure  to  meet  with,  who  doth  in  the  least 
scruple  any  of  the  common  opinions?"  Though  many  things  are 
altered  since  the  days  of  Locke,  mankind  are  but  little  changed. 
In  his  days,  indeed,  the  prejudices  of  the  times  ran  towards 
opinions,  which,  acquiesed  in  by  many  succeeding  generations, 
were,  therefore,  conceived  to  have  a  real  plurality  of  judgments  in 
their  favor.  Now,  on  the  contrary,  to  have  been  believed  from  of 
old,  is  deemed  to  indicate  defect,  and  that  alone  is  admitted  as  of 


PREFACE.  VU 

approved  strength,  which  has  not  been  subjected  to  the  test  of  time. 
In  this,  nevertheless,  there  is  a  perfect  agreement,  that  men  appeal 
not  so  much  to  truth  itself,  as  to  prevalent  opinion,  and  are  disposed 
to  treat  whatever  stands  opposed  to  it,  as  necessarily  erroneous.  It 
were,  then,  in  vain  for  me,  I  am  aware,  in  reply  to  the  charge  of 
presumption  in  challenging  the  opinions  to  which  the  celebrated 
author  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations  has  given  currency,  to  answer, 
that  it  is  not  so,  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  "he  is  the  general  chal- 
lenger : "  that  his  disciples  form,  in  reality,  but  a  sect,  one  setting 
itself  in  opposition  to  the  belief  of  all  preceding  ages,  and  in  its 
rise  and  progress  presenting  nothing  dissimilar  to'  the  other  numer- 
ous sects,  which  time,  in  its  course,  has  seen  appearing  and  disap- 
pearing :  that,  therefore,  if  we  really  appeal  to  authority,  its  deci- 
sion is  against,  not  for,  the  present  political  creed.  Such  arguments 
would  certainly  fall  on  deaf  ears.  The  authority,  in  which  men 
acquiese,  is  that  which  is  present,  and  to  which  they  have  been 
accustomed  to  yield  assent.  Whatever  is  opposed  to  this,  and 
separated  from  it  by  distance  of  time  or  space,  has  no  influence 
on  their  judgments. 

But,  although,  instead  of  assistance,  I  have  to  look  for  opposition, 
from  this  quarter,  I  nevertheless  believe,  that  I  have  an  auxiliary 
of  great  power  on  my  side.  In  political  questions,  before  they  see 
that  they  are  wrong,  it  is  common  for  men  to  feel  that  they  are 
so.  The  progress  of  recent  events  seems  to  have  excited  a  general 
sensation  of  this  sort  over  Great  Britain.  Twenty  or  thirty  years 
ago,  according  to  the  prevailing  political  system,  every  circumstance 
in  the  condition  of  the  empire  was  at  variance  with  what  should 
give  prosperity  to  a  state.  To  meet  the  enormous  annual  expendi- 
ture occasioned  by  the  most  wasteful  of  all  preceding  wars,  a  reve- 
nue as  enormous  was  drawn  by  taxation  from  the  people,  while, 
instead  of  their  industry  enjoying  the  boasted  advantages  of  perfect 
freedom,  at  home  it  was  restrained  by  regulations  of  old  established, 
and  abroad  its  products  were  legally  shut  out  from  every  continental 
port,  and  could  only  any  where  force  an  entrance  with  much 
hazard,  and  at  heavy  expense. 

True ;  making  its  power  felt  through  the  element  that  had  ever 
been  most  propitious  to  it,  it  had  subjugated  almost  every  spot  on 
the  globe,  colonized  by  Europeans,  and  by  this  means,  in  defiance 
of  its  enemies,  maintained  an  extended  commerce  with  all  parts  of 
the  world.  But  this  vast  extent  of  empire,  preserved  by  force  of 
arms,  and  at  great  expense,  according  to  the  dicta  of  modern  politi- 
cians, was  an  evil  of  the  greatest  magnitude,  and  one  which,  though 
the  burden  attending  it   is  now  reduced  to  comparative   insignifi- 


Vlll  PREFACE. 


c;iuce,  they   are  continually  assuring   us  we  ought,  as  quickly  as 
possible,  to  get  rid  of. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  disadvantages,  however,  there  is  no 
period  in  its  history  in  which  the  condition  of  Great  Britain  was 
apparently  more  flouri»liing.  The  exertions  of  the  laborer  were 
liberally  rewarded,  the  expenditure  of  the  capitalist  richly  repaid. 
Every  thing  gave  token  of  rapidly  increasing  wealth  and  abun- 
dance. 

The  triumph  of  that  cause,  in  aid  of  which  war  had  been  em- 
braced, gave  peace  to  the  empire  and  to  Europe.  The  annual  ex- 
penditure was  diminished  by  one  half,  and  the  nation  was  no  longer 
restrained,  but  in  comparatively  a  very  trifling  degree,  from  partici- 
pating in  all  those  advantages,  which,  in  every  instance,  one 
country,  according  to  prevailing  notions,  is  supposed  to  gain  by 
free  intercourse  with  another.  But,  though  markets  for  the  manu- 
facture, and  channels  for  the  commerce  of  the  kingdom  were  largely 
multiplied,  its  resources,  instead  of  augmenting,  seemed  diminish- 
Hig.  The  whole  fabric  of  society  seemed  ready  to  sink  under  the 
pressure  of  some  new  burden, —  ruin  began  to  threaten,  often  to 
overwhelm  the  man  of  capital, —  want  to  look  industry  in  the  face. 
In  vain  were  taxes  to  a  large  amount  repealed,  in  vain  were  endea- 
vors made  to  trace  the  depression  of  the  times  to  mere  revolutions  in 
the  channels  of  trade,  and  to  other  temporary  causes,  and  hopes  held 
out  that  they  would  speedily  pass  away.  The  evil  proved  to  be  not 
partial  and  temporary,  but  pervading  and  permanent.  Far  from 
confidence  in  the  modern  science  being  shaken  by  a  result  con- 
trary to  all  its  principles,  it  was  resolved  to  seek  a  remedy  for  the 
acknowledged  distress,  by  adopting  largely  the  policy  which  this 
science  inculcates. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  results  of  the  experiment,  as  far  as 
it  has  hitherto  been  carried,  have  been  in  the  whole,  unhappy. 
The  events  which  have  followed,  not  to  say  flowed  from  recent 
enactments,  regulating  the  internal  and  external  commerce  of  the 
nation,  have  been  at  least  unfortunate.  The  operations  of  the 
banking  system,  and  the  extension  of  general  confidence  and  secu- 
rity in  all  transactions,  which  that  system  is  calculated  to  afford, 
seem  clogged  and  restrained.  The  returns  which  industry  and 
capital  receive,  have  been  still  farther  diminished.  Wealth  is  bar- 
ren. Labor,  plied  with  all  the  skill,  and  more  than  all  the  assiduity 
to  which  human  nature  is  long  adequate,  does  not  always  keep 
famine  at  a  distance. 

It  is  natural  that  these  circumstances  should  beget  a  sort  of  feel- 
ing of  doubt.     That,   without  pretending  to  question  the  general 


PREFACE.  IX 

truth  of  the  system  establislied  by  Adam  Smith,  many  should  yet 
ask  tliemselves,  is  the  path  which  he  has  pointed  out,  truly  that 
which  always  leads  directly  to  the  wealth  of  nations?  In  this 
temper  of  the  public  mind,  I  am  inclined  to  hope  that  the  applica- 
tion of  new  principles  to  a  reconsideration  of  the  whole  subject, 
may  be  conceived  to  be  an  undertaking  deserving,  at  least,  of  be- 
ing examined,  and  that  the  defects  of  the  following  pages  may  not 
be  thought  sufficient  to  prevent  what  measure  of  truth  they  may 
contain,  from  being  perceived  and  appreciated. 
Montreal,  1833. 


POSTSCRIPT. 

In  the  preceding  pages,  the  reader  has  an  explanation  of  the 
original  design  of  the  work  which  I  venture  to  place  before  him  ; 
but,  in  preparing  it  for  publication  in  this  country,  I  have  made 
some  alterations  in  it,  the  nature  of  which  it  is  proper  I  should 
here  state. 

The  doctrines  which  Adam  Smith  maintained  with  so'  much 
ability,  never  took  so  deep  hold  in  this  country  as  in  England,  and 
they  have  been  more  strongly  opposed.  There  is,  hence,  a  very 
considerable  difference  between  the  state  of  public  sentiment  in 
Great  Britain  and  America,  concerning  the  most  interesting  practi- 
cal questions  of  political  economy.  This  is  especially  the  case 
with  regard  to  the  policy  of  the  protective  system.  The  practical 
bearings  of  that  system  on  the  condition  of  things  in  this  republic, 
have  been  discussed  so  often,  and  with  so  much  ability,  that  proba- 
bly few  new  arguments  or  facts  concerning  it  can  be  brought  for- 
ward by  any  one,  least  of  all  can  they  be  expected  from  a  foreigner. 
Although,  therefore,  I  look  on  the  effects  of  the  policy  pursued  by 
the  legislature  of  the  United  States,  as  affording  the  best  practical 
illustration  hitherto  existing  of  the  correctness  of  some  of  the  prin- 
ciples I  maintain,  I  have  scarcely  at  all  referred  to  them  for  that 
purpose,  but  have  contented  myself  with  showing  how  the  benefits 
resulting  from  the  operations  of  the  legislature,  in  this  and  in  other 
similar  cases,  are  to  be  accounted  for.  I  have  thus  omitted  much 
matter  that  would  have  appeared,  had  the  work  been  published  in 
England,  but  which,  it  seemed  to  me,  would  be  at  least  superfluous 
here.  These  omissions  occur  in  the  third  book,  which  is  conse- 
quently much  abridged. 


X  PREFACE. 

To  the  second  book  I  have  made  some  additions,  having  given 
fuller  developement  to  the  principles  there  explained,  and  traced 
their  connexion  with  events  at  greater  length,  than  is  necessary 
for  the  mere  purpose  of  exposing  the  fallacies  of  the  theoretical 
views,  the  refutation  of  which  was  originally  my  sole  design.  As 
the  additions  were  made  in  the  progress  of  the  work  through  the 
press,  in  one  or  two  instances  I  have  been  led  to  refer  to  subjects 
to  be  afterwards  treated  of,  which  I  found  it  impossible  to  comprise 
within  such  limits  as  would  admit  of  their  insertion.  These  omis- 
sions, however,  do  not  occasion  any  break  in  the  chain  of  reasoning. 
There  are,  also,  some  topics,  which,  though  I  have  introduced,  I 
have  but  partially  discussed,  and  merely  so  far  as  may  serve  to 
show  some  of  their  connexions  with  principles  expounded.  The 
most  important  of  these  is  the  subject  of  banking. 

Boston,  1834. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

AND    SUMMARY    OF    PRINCIPLES. 


Page 

General  Introduction  .....  1 

BOOK   I. 

Individual  and  National  Interests  are  not  Identical. 

The  causes  giving  rise  to  individual  and  national  wealth,  are  not 
precisely  the  same.  Individuals  grow  rich  by  the  acquisition  of 
wealth  previously  existing ;  nations,  by  the  creation  of  wealth  that 
did  not  before  exist. 

Introduction  .  .  .  ,  .  .  7 

CHAPTER  I. 
Of  the  identity  of  individual    and  national    interests   con- 
sidered as  a  simple  principle      ....  9 

CHAPTER  II. 
Of  the  Identity  of  Individual  and  National   Interests   Con- 
sidered as  a  Theoretical  Principle        ...  32 

BOOK    II. 

Of  the    Nature  of  Stock  and  of  the  laws  governing  its  in- 
crease and  diminution. 

The  first  ten  chapters  of  this  Book  treat  of  the  nature  and  opera- 
tion of  the  causes  originating  and  increasing  Stock  ;  the  eleventh 
and  thirteenth,  of  the  nature  and  operation  of  those  which  retard  the 
increase  of  Stock,  or  diminish  the  amount  of  it  already  existing; 
and  the  twelfth  and  fourteenth,  of  the  combined  actions  of  the 
former  and  latter  causes.  The  last  chapter  consists  of  an  examin- 
ation of  the  claims  of  the  principles  of  Adam  Smith  to  the  rank 
of  Science. 

Introduction         ......  "fS 


80 


91 


95 


Xii  CONTENTS,  &C. 

CHAPTER  I. 

It  is  characteristic  of  man  to  provide  for  the  wants  of  the 
future,  by  the  formation  of  instruments ;  and  his  power  to 
make  this  provision,  is  measured,  by  the  extent  and  accura- 
cy of  his  knowledge  of  the  course  of  natural  events 

CHAPTER  n. 
Of  the  circumstances  common  to  all  instruments,  and  of  those 

proper  to  some  ..... 

There  are  three  circumstances  common  to  all  instruments.  1.  They 
are  formed,  or  receive  a  capacity  to  produce  certain  events  fitted 
to  supply  future  wants,  by  labor,  eithei  directly  or  indirectly. 
2  Before  their  capacity  is  exhausted,  and  they  pass  from  the 
rank  of  instruments  to  that  of  materials,  they  yield  a  return,  or 
produce  certain  events  fitted  to  supply  future  wants,  which  may 
be  estimated  in  labor.  3.  Between  the  period  of  their  formation 
and  that  of  their  exhaustion,  a  space  of  time  intervenes. 

Some  instruments  can  be  easily  moved  from  place  to  place,  others 
cannot.     The  former  are  termed  goods,  or  commodities. 

CHAPTER  HI. 
Of  certain  circumstances  arising  from  the  Institution  of  Soci- 
ety ....•• 

Statement  of  some  generally  admitted  principles  concerning  the 
nature  of  man  and  of  society,  which  it  is  necessary  to  assume  in 
the  progress  of  the  subsequent  investigations. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Every  instrument  may  be  arranged  in  some  part  of  a  series, 
of  which  the  orders  are  determined,  by  the  proportions  ex- 
isting between  the  labor  expended  in  the  formation  of  in- 
struments, the  capacity  given  to  them,  and  the  time  elapsing 
from  the  period  of  formation  to  that  of  exhaustion  100 

CHAPTER  V. 
Circumstances  determining  the  amount  of  instruments  formed     109 

In  every  society  considerably  advanced  in  art,  that  is  to  say,  in  every 
society  the  members  of  which  have  acquired  an  extensive  know- 
ledge of  the  trains  of  events  supplying  the  wants  of  man,  which  the 
materials  they  possess  are  capable  of  generating,  there  is  no  assign- 
able limit  to  the  capacity  that  may  be  given  to  these  materials,  or 
to  the  amount  of  events  which  the  instruments  that  may  be  formed 
out  of  them  may  bring  to  pass  ;  but,  that  capacity  cannot  be  in- 
definitely increased,  without  carrying  the  stock  of  instruments 
owned  by  the  society  to  an  order  of  slower  return, — that  is  to  say, 
without  extending  the  period  between  their  formation  and  ex- 
haustion, or  diminishing  their  return.  It  so  happens,  that,  other 
circumstances  being  equal,  the  wider  the  circle  of  events  embraced, 
the  returns  made  by  the  instruments  constructed  take  place  in  a 
more  distant  futurity. 


CONTENTS,  &c.  xiii 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Of  the  circumstances  which  determine  the  strength  of  the 
eifective  desire  of  accumulation  .  .  .  119 

The  order  to  which  the  instruments  formed  by  any  society  will  be 
earried,  is  fixed  by  the  relative  estimation  by  its  members,  of  events 
taking  place  at  present,  and  at  a  future  period,  which  is  denomina- 
ted the  effective  desire  of  accumulation.  This  is  chiefly  determin- 
ed, 1.  by  the  distinctness  of  the  minds  conception  of  future  events, 
which  again  depends  on  the  strength  of  the  intellectual  powers  ;  2. 
on  the  desire  felt  for  the  production  of  practicable  future  events.  The 
latter  circumstance  is  regulated  by  the  strength  of  the  moral  pow- 
ers, or  what  in  those  investigations  are  termed  the  social  and  be- 
nevolent affections.  As  the  existence  of  the  individual  is  preca- 
rious, and  his  power  of  enjoyment  continually  diminishing,  the 
more  the  state  of  feeling  and  action  pervading  any  community  sep- 
arates individuals  from  one  another,  the  more  limited  will  be  the 
range  of  events,  which  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  of  the 
members  of  that  community  will  embrace.  On  the  contrary,  as, 
though  individuals  perish,  the  race  remains,  the  more  the  interests 
of  the  individual  are  identified  with  those  of  others,  the  wider  will 
be  the  circle  of  events  which  the  accumulative  principle  will  com- 
prehend. Isolation  of  feeling  and  action  weakens  the  accumula- 
tive principle  by  separating  the  interests  of  individuals,  and  so 
contracting  its  sphere  of  operation ;  community  of  feeling  and 
action  strengthens  it,  by  connecting  the  interests  of  individuals, 
and  exciting  them  to  comprehend  within  the  circle  of  their  opera- 
tions a  more  extended  series  of  events. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Of  some  of  the  phenomena  arising  from  the  different  degrees 
of  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  in  dif- 
ferent  societies  .....  130 

The  state  of  feeling  and  action,  the  consequent  strength  of  the  ef- 
fective desire  of  accumulation,  the  orders  of  instruments  and 
some  of  the  circumstances  thus  produced  among  hunting  and  pas- 
toral nations,  in  the  Chinese  Empire,  in  Modern  Europe,  and 
among  the  ancient  Romans. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Of  the   division  of  employments,   and   of  other  phenomena 
produced  by  efforts  to  accelerate  the  exhaustion  of  instru- 
ments .  .  .  .  .  .  164 

When,  in  consequence  of  the  progress  of  art,  and  the  strength  of 
the  accumulative  principle,  there  are  many  extended  trains  of 
events,  or  arts,  going  on  in  any  society,  and  when,  consequently, 
there  exist  many  sets  of  tools  or  instruments  producing  them,  each 
individual  betakes  himself  to  the  production  of  some  particular 
train,  and  to  the  formation  of  the  instruments  necessary  for  carry- 
ing it  on.  By  this  means,  no  instruments  lie  idle,  which  must  be 
the  case  were  every  man  to  practice  several  arts,  and,  consequently, 


Xiv  CONTENTS,  &,C. 

they  are  more  speedily  exhausted,  and  pass  to  orders  of  quicker 
return.  This  division  of  employments  introduces  the  necessity  of 
the  exchange  of  commodities.  The  exchange  of  commodities  is 
regulated,  by  the  labor  respectively  expended  on  them,  in  con- 
junction with  the  time  at  which  it  was  expended,  reckoning  the 
effects  of  the  latter  by  the  orders  at  which  instruments  actually 
stand.  The  existence  of  exchange  occasions  a  choice  being  made 
of  some  commodity,  which  is  kept  for  the  purpose  of  being  ex- 
changed with  all  others,  and  so  comes  to  name  the  rates  at  which 
they  exchange,  or  to  fix  their  values.  The  commodity  chosen  for 
this  purpose  is  termed  money,  and,  among  communities  possessing 
the  precious  metals,  consists  of  them.  Exchanges  are  also  effected 
by  means  of  credit.  The  modern  art  of  banking  consists  in  a 
generalization  of  all  credit  transactions,  and  an  emission  of  paper 
money,  or  money  of  credit.  Its  introduction  into  any  community 
by  facilitating  the  exchanges  of  instruments,  quickens  their  ex- 
liaustion,  and  carries  them  to  the  more  speedily  returning  orders.* 
The  general  prevalence  of  credit,  and  of  the  use  of  money,  has 
produced  the  mercantile  mode  of  calculating  the  returns  of  in- 
struments, by  profits  and  interest. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Of  the  effects  resulting  from  diversities  of  strength  in  the  ac- 
cumulative principle,  in  members  of  the  same  society  198 
In  the  same  society,  instruments  are  kept  at  nearly  the  same  orders, 
because  prodigals,  or  individuals  in  whom  the  accumulative  prin- 
ciple is  weaker  than   the   average,  can  exchange  the  instruments 
they  possess  for  more,  according  to  their  estimation  of  the  future 
and  the  present,  than  they  are  worth,  and  therefore  transfer  them ; 
while  frugal  persons,  individuals  in  whom  the  accumulative  prin- 
ciple is  stronger  than  the  average,  find  exercise  for  it  in  acquiring 
instruments  transferred  by  prodigals.     Exception  to  this  rule  con- 
cerning instruments  that  cannot  be  exchanged,  forming  a  stock 
reserved  for  immediate  consumption, 

CHAPTER  X. 

Of  the  causes  of  the  progress  of  invention,  and  of  the  effects 

arising  from  it  ....  .  208 

Invention,  the  discovery  o{  new  possible  existences,  becomes  an  active 
principle  by  exerting  a  formative  power  on  old  actual  existences. 
The  causes  exciting  its  progress,  1.  in  the  nature  of  man  the  in- 
ventor, the  same  in  general  as  those  giving  strength  to  the 
accumulative  principle ;  2.  in  the  nature  of  the  world  in 
which  he  lives,  change  exposing  to  his  view  new  successions  of 
events,  exciting  him  to  observe  them,  and  weakening  the  retarding 
influence  of  the  principle  of  servile  imitation.  The  effects  on 
instruments  of  the  progress  of  invention,  are,  to  produce  improve- 
ments in  them,  and  to  carry  them  on  to  orders  of  quicker  return. 
One  of  the  final  causes  of  the  changes  and  revolutions  of  all  sorts,  to 

*  Sec  also  note  G. 


CONTENTS,  &C.  XV 

which  man  and  art  are  subject,  seems  to  be,  to  advance  the  inven- 
tive faculty. — ^Of  stock  absolute,  and  relative,  and  its  subdivisions. 

CHAPTER.  XI. 
Of  Luxury         .  .  .  .  .  .  265 

PART    I. 

There  is  a  propensity  among  men  to  attain  superiority  over  one 
another.  This  may  be  termed  vanity,  and  is  gratified  by  the  evi- 
dent possession  of  things  which  others  have  not  the  means  of 
acquiring ;  and  therefore  by  the  possession  of  commodities  of 
which  the  consumption  is  conspicuous,  and  which  cost  much  labor, 
though  not  better  qualified,  or,  though  but  little  better  qualified  to 
supply  real  wants,  than  other  commodities  costing  little  labor.  The 
comparison  of  the  physical  qualities  of  such  commodities  does  not 
afford,  therefore,  the  means  of  measuring  them  by  one  another. 
Hence  the  assumption,  on  which  the  preceding  investigations  have 
proceeded,  (p.  93)  that  all  commodities  compare  with  one  another 
by  their  physical  qualities  is  incorrect.  In  so  far  as  any  commodity, 
when  compared  with  another,  excels  it  only  in  the  gratification  it 
affords  to  vanity,  it  is  to  be  considered  a  luxury,  in  so  far  as  it 
compares  with  others  in  the  capacity  which  its  physical  qualities 
give  it  to  gratify  real  wants,  it  is  to  be  considered  as  a  utility.  The 
progress  of  invention  and  improvement  have  no  effect  in  carrying 
instruments,  directly  or  indirectly  producing  luxuries,  to  more 
quickly  returning  orders ;  on  the  contrary,  they  carry  them  to  the 
most  slowly  returning  orders  of  which  the  strength  of  the  accumu- 
lative principle  admits  the  existence.  The  labor  expended  in  the 
formation  of  luxuries,  is  so  much  direct  loss  to  the  community, 
one  man's  superiority  being  here  equivalent  to  anothers  inferiority. 
The  amount  thus  dissipated  depends  on  the  force  of  the  social  and  ' 
benevolent  affections,  and  intellectual  powers,  as  compared  with 
that  of  the  selfish  feelings,  and  is,  therefore,  inversely  as  the 
strength  of  the  accumulative  principle. 

PART    II.  292 

Narcotics,  in  so  far  as  their  effects  ore  not  measured  by  the  quantity 
consumed,  may  be  classed  with  luxuries.  A  question  concerning 
the  effects  resulting  from  their  cheapness  considered. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Of  Exchanges  between  different  Communities  .  300 

Exchanges  between  societies,  are  not  directly  regulated  by  the 
quantity  of  labor  expended  on  the  commodities  exchanged.  In- 
creased facility  in  the  exchange  of  utilities  operates  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  progress  of  invention  and  improvement,  and  carries 
instruments  to  the  more  quickly  returning  orders ;  increased  facility 
in  the  exchange  of  luxuries  has  an  immediate  tendency,  on  the 
contrary,  to  carry  instruments  to  the  more  slowly  returning  orders. 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

Of  Waste 312 

The  loss  which,  in  any  society,  the  capacity  of  instruments  sustains 


XVi  CONTENTS,  &C. 

by  the  operation  of  fraud  and  violence,  seem  to  be  nearly  inversely 
as  the  strength  of  tlie  accumulative  principle  ;  but  violence,  as 
producing  change,  excites  invention. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Of  the  combined  operation  of  the  causes  investigated  in  the 

preceding  chapters  ....  3%.0 

Summary  of  principles,  and  account  of  some  events  arising  from 
their  combined  operation. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Of  the  "  Wealth  of  Nations  "  as  a  branch  of  the  Philosophy 
of  Induction  .....  328 

Adam  Smith's  great  work  is  to  be  considered  as  a  philosophical  sys- 
tem, the  object  of  which  is  to  explain  known  phenomena,  on  popu- 
lar principles,  not  as  an  inductive  inquiry,  leading  to  the  discovery 
of  the  real  laws  determining  the  succession  of  those  phenomena. 

APPENDIX  TO  BOOK  II. 

Of  the  principle  of  the  division  of  labor  .  .  352 

The  division  of  labor  ought  to  be  considered  rather  as  a  result  than 
a  cause. 

BOOK    III. 

Of  the  operations  of  the  legislator  on  National  Stock  358 

Introduction        ....-•  ib 

Instead  of  there  being  any  grounds  for  a  presumption  against  legis- 
lative interferance,  from  the  assumption,  tliat  nature  ought  to  be 
allowed  to  pursue  her  own  plans ;  the  presumption  is,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  nature  gave  man  his  peculiar  faculties  for  the  purpose, 
that,  universally,  and  as  well  here  as  elsewhere,  he  might  acquire 
the  direction  of  events,  by  discovering  the  laws  regulating  their 
successions. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Of  the  operations  of  the  legislator  in  bringing  the   arts  of 
Foreign  Countries  to  his  own 

The  legislator  may   stimulate   invention  by  the  introduction  of  new 
arts. 


363 


369 


CHAPTER  II. 

Of  the  operations  of  the  legislator  on  luxuries 

The  art  of  the  legislator  may  apply  to  the  purposes  of  the  state  funds 
naturally  dissipated  in  luxuries. 

CHAPTER  III. 
Of  objections  to  the  interference  of  the    legislator  in   the 

cases  indicated  in  the  two  preceding  chapters  377 

Notes  ......  387 


INTRODUCTION 


Of  all  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  ''Inquiry 
into  the  Wealth  of  Nations,"  there  is  no  one  more  re- 
markable than  the  fact,  that  its  celebrated  author  leaves 
us  in  doubt  what  he  himself  understands  by  that  wealth, 
the  nature  and  causes  of  which  it  is  the  object  of  his 
inquiry  to  investigate.  His  followers  have  scarce  been 
more  fortunate.  They  have  sought,  by  definitions,  to 
remedy  the  acknowledged  defect,  but  have  been  unable 
to  agree  in  the  terms  of  them.  The  school  is  thus  split 
into  many  little  sects  at  variance  with  each  other  re- 
garding the  very  elements  of  the  science.* 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  circumstance  arises  from, 
and  very  clearly  marks  the  existence  of,  a  great  and 
fundamental  defect  in  the  principles  of  investigation 
on  which  Adam  Smith  and  the  school  he  founded  pro- 
ceed;— an  uniform  tendency  to  hold  that  up  as  an  ex- 
planation of  other  things,  which,  in  reality,  is  the  very 
thing  itself  to  be  explained. 

It  is  the  nature  of  wealth  in  the  general,  and  the 
laws  regulating  its  increase  and  diminution,  that  can 
alone,  as  I  conceive,  form  the  proper  subject  of  philo- 
sophical investigation.  These  being  determined,  from 
them  may  be  deduced  the  manner  in  which  particular 
societies,  or  particular  individuals,  come  to  possess  this 
or  that  amount  of  wealth.  But,  though  such  is  the 
proper  philosophical  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  not  that 
under  which  it  appears  to  common  observers. 


Vide  note  A. 


2  INTRODUCTION. 

Before  men  begin  to  speculate,  they  are  obliged  to 
act.     They  are  therefore  first  led,  in  regard  to  any 
system  with  which  they  have  to  do,  to  fix  their  atten- 
tion altogether  on  the  phenomena  exhibited  by  it,  with- 
out attempting  to  reach  the  causes  of  those  phenomena. 
It  is  usually  long  after  the  events  themselves  have  thus 
been  observed  and  noted,  that  to  trace  their  causes 
becomes  the  employment  of  philosophers.     The  mere 
sailor,  for  example,  regards  the  winds  simply  as  con- 
nected with  the  different  seasons,  the  various  regions 
of  the  globe,  and  the  particular  aspect  of  the  heavens 
at  the  time.     This  makes  up  the  sum  of  his  knowledge 
concerning  them,  which,  notwithstanding,  may  be  very 
extensive  and  of  great  practical  utility.     It  is  not  his 
object  to  inquire  into  the  general  causes  producing  all 
these  phenomena,   nor  into  the   laws  regulating  the 
general  system  of  things,  of  which  they  make  a  part, 
and  so  of  ascertaining  the  true  nature  of  the  different 
wunds,  the  real  manner  of  their  existence,  and  the 
measure  of  their  force  and  duration.     He  believes  that 
while  that  system  endures  as  it  is,  his  knowledge  will 
serve  to  direct  his  practice,  and  this  is  all  about  which 
he  concerns  himself   An  extensive  practical  knowledge 
of  this  sort  here  long  preceded  a  philosophical  know- 
ledge of  the  subject.     It  has  been  the  business  of  the 
latter,  as  it  has  at  last  had  place,  to  ascertain  the  nature 
of  wind  itself,  and  the  causes  producing  all  different 
winds,  and  acting  on  them.     For  this  purpose  the  phi- 
losopher has   turned   himself  to  the  investigation  of 
whatever,  in  the  general  system  of  things,  is  connected 
with  that  concerning  which  he  inquires; — to  the  con- 
stitution and  properties  of  the  atmosphere ;  —  the  effects 
of  changes  of  temperature  on  aeriform  fluids ;  —  the  mo- 
tions induced  by  these,  by  the  rotatory  movement  of 
the  globe,  and  by  other  circumstances.     From  them 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

he  deduces  the  true  theory  of  wind,  and  shows  that  it 
is  in  accordance  with  the  observations  and  rules  of  him, 
who  has  been  accustomed  to  view  the  subject  in  its 
practical  bearings  alone,  and  tends  to  elucidate  and 
simplify  them. 

In  a  somewhat  similar  manner  wealth  was  felt  and 
noted  in  its  effects  long  before,  as  a  circumstance 
largely  affecting  societies,  it  was  proposed  philosophi- 
cally to  investigate  its  nature  and  causes.  To  mark 
those  effects,  riches  and  a  series  of  other  terms  of  the 
sort,  were  invented.  Like  all  every-day  words  and 
phrases  they  apply  to  particular  facts  and  occurrences, 
and  have  no  necessary  reference  to  the  causes  of  those 
facts  and  occurrences.  All  such  speculations  are  foreign 
to  mere  practice,  and  never  enter  even  into  the  explana- 
tions and  reasonings  of  the  merely  practical  man.  How- 
ever complicated  the  social  system  of  which  any  person 
engaged  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth  makes  a  part,  he 
has  no  difficulty  in  tracing  the  manner  in  which  that 
portion  of  it  which  he  possesses  has  been  acquired,  nor 
in  explaining  how  it  forms  to  him  a  certain  amount  of 
what  he  calls  capital.  But  in  giving  this  explanation, 
it  will  be  observed  that  for  the  elements  of  his  state- 
ments, he  has  always  recourse  to  the  existence  and 
continuance  of  certain  circumstances  and  regular  trains 
of  events  in  the  general  system  of  human  society.  What 
the  things  may  be  which  give  origin  and  regular  suc- 
cession to  these  events  is  a  speculation  lying  out  of  his 
road,  and  on  which  he  probably  never  enters.  Though, 
therefore,  he  can  easily  tell  how  he  got  that  which 
constitutes  his  wealth,  and  how  to  him  it  comes  to  be 
wealth,  he  will  yet  probably  confess  that  he  is  unable 
to  say  what  constitutes  wealth  in  general,  from  whence 
it  is  derived,  or  what  are  the  exact  laws  regulating  its 
increase  or  diminution.     These  are  questions  of  which 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

the  solution  is  very  clearly  shown  to  be  of  great  diffi- 
culty from  the  mass  of  discordant  opinions  concerning 
them.* 

Adam  Smith,  in  this  and  in  other  instances,  by  trans- 
ferring, without  hesitation,  terms  made  use  of  to  mark 
and  explain  the  affairs  of  common  life  to  denote  the 
great  phenomena  which  the  affairs  of  societies  present, 
falls,  as  it  seems  to  me,  into  two  errors.  In  the  first 
place,  he  in  a  great  measure  misses  that  which  is  the 
real  object  at  which  his  inquiry  aims,  the  investigation 
of  the  true  nature  and  causes  of  national  wealth,  and 
shows,  by  holding  out  sometimes  one  notion  of  it  and 
sometimes  another,  according  to  the  different  lights  in 
which  at  different  times  the  subject  presents  itself  to 
him,  that  he  has  no  very  definite  ideas  concerning  it. 
In  the  second  place,  he  naturally,  and  in  very  many 
instances,  falls  into  the  error  of  taking,  what  in  truth 
are  the  results  of  general  laws  governing  the  course  of 
this  class  of  events  for  the  laws  themselves,  and  so 
of  elevating  effects  into  causes.  His  procedure  is 
not  very  dissimilar  to  what  that  of  a  philosopher 
would  have  been,  who,  desiring  to  investigate  the 
nature  of  wind,  should  have  assumed  it  as  already 
known,  not  as  an  event,  but  as  a  thing,  and  should 
have  conceived  it  his  business  merely  to  connect  and 
arrange  the  various  phenomena  in  relation  to  it,  with 
which  practice  had  previously  made  mankind  familiar. 
Such  a  system  could  not  have  failed  to  have  embodied 
great  radical  defects,  for  it  would  have  been  built  on 
principles  fundamentally  erroneous. 

His  followers,  by  the  use  they  make  of  definitions, 
appear  to  me  rather  to  have  introduced  new  evils,  than 
to  have  applied  a  remedy  to  those  already  existing. 

*  Note  B. 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

Definitions  give  us  the  mastery  of  words,  not  of  things,* 
and  therefore  by  taking  them  as  they  have  done,  for 
principles  of  investigation,  not  auxiharies  to  it,  their 
labors  have  generally  issued  in  adducing  arguments 
instead  of  collecting  and  arranging  facts,  the  former 
being  the  proper  fruit  of  an  attention  to  words,  the 
latter  of  an  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  things. 

I  conceive  that  the  fallacies  of  the  particular  doc- 
trines I  oppose  may  be  most  effectually  exposed,  by 
tracing  out  the  true  nature  of  that  wealth,  the  manner 
of  the  augmentation  and  diminution  of  which,  forms  the 
subject  of  controversy.  That  we  can  neither  assume 
this  as  a  thing  already  known,  nor  hope,  by  any  mere 
intellectual  effort,  to  comprehend  it  in  an  ingenious 
definition.  That  when  it  is  really  discovered,  it  must 
be,  as  has  happened  in  other  things,  that  disputes  con- 
cerning its  manner  of  existence,  its  increase  and  de- 
crease will  terminate,  or  instead  of  hinging  on  plausi- 
ble arguments,  may  be  settled  by  a  reference  to  ascer- 
tainable facts.  It  is,  therefore,  such  an  investigation, 
that  I  propose  partially  to  attempt  ;  and  it  is  chiefly 
on  the  results  of  it,  that  I  mean  to  rest  my  demonstra- 
tion of  the  reality  of  those  errors,  my  conviction  of 
the  existence  of  which,  has  been  my  motive  for  engag- 
ing in  the  present  undertaking. 

By  entering  on  such  an  investigation  immediately, 
however,  the  subject  would  be  brought  before  the 
reader  under  an  aspect  so  different  from  that  in  which 
it  is  viewed  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  and  subsequent 

*  A  sailor  would  never  think  it  necessary  to  explain  what  wind  is.  Were 
he  asked  to  do  so,  it  is  very  probable  he  would  answer  "  that  which  blows," 
and  this  would  be  a  correct  enough  marking  out  of  the  meaning  attached  to 
the  word.  Mr.  Say,  in  like  manner,  defines  value  what  a  thing  is  worth. 
"  Valeur  des  choses.  C'est  ce  qu'une  chose  vaut."  Riches,  again,  he  defines 
an  amount  of  values.  "  Richesse,  c'est  la  somme  des  valeurs."  Capital,  an 
accumulation  of  values.  Vide  Epitome  des  principes  fondamentaux  de 
Veconomie  politique. 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

works  following  in  the  same  train  of  thought,  that  I 
should  not  have  an  opportunity  of  directly  meeting 
some  of  the  arguments  there  advanced.  For  this 
reason  I  shall  first  endeavor  to  show,  that  even  pro- 
ceeding on  similar  principles  to  those  adopted  in  the 
Wealth  of  Nations  itself,  there  exist  great  and  insup- 
erable objections  to  the  doctrines  in  question.  This 
forms  the  subject  of  the  First  Book.  In  the  Second,  I 
enter  on  the  analysis  of  the  nature  of  wealth  and  the 
laws  governing  its  increase  and  diminution.  The  Third 
is  devoted  to  a  practical  application  to  the  doctrines 
in  question,  of  the  principles  established. 


BOOK    I. 


INTRODUCTION. 


When  wealth,  considered  in  the  general,  is  conceived  to  be  a 
thing  either  so  clear  as  to  require  no  definition,  or  so  simple  as 
to  be  fully  grasped  by  any  definition,  two  different  and  opposing 
systems  naturally  seem  to  arise  concerning  it. 

'The  wealth  of  all  the  individuals  in  a  state  being,  it  may  be 
said,  of  necessity  measured  by  the  amount  of  the  national  wealth, 
whatever  adds  to  the  wealth  of  the  nation  must  increase  the 
stocks  of  individuals.  But  it  has  always  been  found  that  nations 
have  become  most  wealthy  when  they  have  engaged  most  ex- 
tensively in  commerce  and  manufactures.  To  encourage  com- 
merce and  manufactures  by  every  possible  means,  should,  there- 
fore, be  the  great  aim  of  the  legislator ;  and  every  enactment  and 
regulation  of  his  conducing  to  this  effect,  as  it  cannot  but  tend 
to  the  increase  of  the  general  funds,  must  ultimately  add  to  the 
stocks  of  individuals.  This  view  of  the  matter  leads  directly  to 
a  system  of  unceasing  regulation  and  restraint. 

Again,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  said,  that,  as  the  wealth 
of  the  nation  is  necessarily  made  up  of  the  riches  of  the  various 
individuals  in  it,  so  the  national  wealth  must  grow  as  each  indi- 
vidual adds  to  the  portion  of  it  which  he  possesses.  But  every 
restraint  is  a  hindrance  to  a  man's  acquiring  wealth,  and  he  always 
gains  by  evading  it.  As,  therefore,  all  interference  on  the  part  of 
the  legislator,  operates  as  a  restraint,  he  never  in  any  case  ought 
to  interfere. 

As  the  former  view  of  the  subject  produces  a  system  of  gen- 
eral regulation  and  restraint,  this  teaches  the  doctrine  of  com- 
plete inaction  on  the  part  of  the  legislator,  of  the  removal  of  all 
restraint,  and  of  perfect  freedom  of  trade. 

Both  systems  proceed  on  the  assumption  of  the  exact  identity 
of  public  and  private  wealth  ;  of  wealth,  as  it  is  the  same  word, 
being  always  the  same  thing,  whether  applied  to  individuals  or 
communities,  and  being  in  its  increase  and  decrease  subjected 
in  all  cases  to  similar  laws ;  —  an  assumption  flowing  easily  from 
the  conception  that  its  nature  is  very  simple  and  may  without 
difficulty  be  apprehended. 

The  latter  of  these  systems,  that  adopted  by  Adam  Smith,  we 
might  expect  would  at  present,  be  most  popular  in  Europe. 


3  INTRODUCTION  TO  BOOK  I. 

Institutions  and  forms  very  often  endure  after  the  circumstances 
that  had  originally  called  them  forth  have  disappeared,  and 
when,  consequently,  their  operation  injuriously  restrains  the 
movements  ol"  some  new  order  of  things.     Such  seems  the  con-  J 

dition  of  most  European  kingdoms   at   present.     The  frame  of  ■ 

their  existing  constitutions  and  laws  was  moulded  in  remote  times,  " 

in  ages  of  comparative  barbarism  and  stern  military  rule,  and  is, 
therefore,  in  many  parts,  unsuited  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
present  period.  It  is  perceived  that  a  multitude  of  abuses  exist, 
and  the  efforts  of  the  majority  are  directed  to  detect,  expose,  and 
do  away  with  them.  The  prejudices  of  men  of  liberal  minds 
and  enlarged  views,  for  even  such  men  have  prejudices,  run 
consequently,  rather  towards  overthrowing  and  rooting  out,  than 
to  establishing  and  maintaining.  A  system  of  political  economy, 
the  fundamental  principles  of  which,  inculcated  the  doctrine  that 
every  attempt  of  the  ruler  to  direct  the  industry  of  the  commu- 
nity was  injurious,  and  that  all  laws  having  this  tendency,  should 
be  abrogated,  fell  in  with  the  current  of  pid^lic  opinion  and  could 
not  but  draw  to  itself  a  large  body  of  zealous  and  able  advocates. 
It  is  in  this  temper  that  Mr.  Bentham  addresses  its  author. 
"  On  this  subject  you  ride  triumphant,  and  chastise  the  imper- 
tinence of  kings  and  ministers  with  a  tone  of  authority,  which  it 
required  a  courage  like  yours  to  venture  upon,  and  a  genius  like 
yours  to  warrant  a  man  to  assume."* 

It  maybe  remarked,  also,  that  as  the  circumstances  of  Europe, 
in  remote  ages,  produced  the  former  system,  in  the  present  give 
popularity  to  the  latter  ;  so  in  North  America,  where  a  new  form 
of  government  suited  to  the  state  which  society  has  there  assum- 
ed, has  been  established,  we  might  expect,  as  is  the  case,  that  a 
medium  would  be  taken  between  the  two  extremes. f 

My  main  object,  in  this  book,  is  to  show  that  that  notion  of  the 
exact  identity  of  the  causes  giving  rise  to  individual  and  national 
wealth,  on  which  the  reasonings  and  arguments  of  Adam  Smith 
all  along  depend,  is  erroneous,  that  consequently  the  doctrines  he 
has  engrafted  on  it,  cannot  be  thus  maintained,  and  are  incon- 
sistent with  facts  admitted  by  himself. 

*  Defence  of  Usury, 
t  Note  C. 


CHAPTER    I. 


OF  THE  IDENTITY  OF   INDIVIDUAL   AND  NATIONAL  INTEREST  CONSIDERED 

AS  A  SIMPLE  PRINCIPLE. 

I  HAVE  already  observed  that  through  every  part  of  his  work, 
in  the  conduct  of  all  his  reasonings  and  arguments,  Adam  Smith 
blends  together  the  consideration  of  the  processes  by  which  the 
capitals  of  individuals  and  nations  are  increased,  and  always  treats 
of  them  as  precisely  identical.  Sometimes  this  is  assumed  as  a 
self-evident  truth,  sometimes  it  is  a  deduction  from  an  ingenious 
theory ;  but,  in  one  shape  or  other,  it  forms  the  basis  on  which  his 
whole  system  is  built.  If  this  simple  view  of  the  subject  be 
admitted  as  correct,  it  may  very  easily  be  made  to  lead  to  the 
conclusions  at  which  he  is  desirous  of  arriving. 

The  axiom  which  he  brings  forward,  that  the  capital  of  a 
society  is  the  same  with  that  of  all  the  individuals  who  compose 
it,  being  granted,  it  follows  that  to  increase  the  capitals  of  all  the 
individuals  in  a  society  is  to  increase  the  general  capital  of  the 
society.  It  seems,  therefore,  also  to  follow  that  as  every  man  is 
best  judge  of  his  own  business  and  of  the  modes  in  which  his  own 
capital  may  be  augmented,  so  to  prevent  him  from  adopting  these 
modes  is  to  obstruct  him  in  his  efforts  to  increase  his  own  capital, 
and,  in  so  far  as  his  capital  is  a  part  of  the  general  capital  of  the 
society,  to  check  the  increase  of  that  general  capital ;  and  hence, 
that,  as  all  laws  for  the  regulation  of  commere  are  in  fact  means 
by  which  the  legislator  prevents  individuals  conducting  their 
business  as  they  themselves  would  deem  best,  they  must  operate 
prejudicially  on  the  increase  of  individual  and  so  of  general 
wealth. 

In  pursuance  of  the  same  idea  of  the  perfect  identity  of  the 
means  by  which  individual  and  national  capitals  are  increased,  the 
argument  is  thus  further  enforced.  Accumulation  is  the  means 
by  which  individual  capital  is  augmented.     We  know  very  well 

2 


10  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

that  if  any  person  spend  as  fast  as  he  makes,  he  can  never  get 
richer.     Whatever  his  gains  are  he  must  save  some  part  of  them, 
else  he  can  never  add  to  his  capital.     The  amount  also  of  his 
savings  for  any  period  of  time  must  measure  the  addition,  which, 
during  that  time  he  makes  to  his  wealth.     As,  therefore,  the 
capital  of  a    single   individual  is   increased    by  his  continually 
accumulating  and  adding  to  it  whatever  he   saves  out  of  his 
revenue,  so  the  national  capital,  or  the  capital  of  all  the  individ- 
uals in  a  nation-,  is  increased  by  these  individuals  continually 
accumulating  and  adding  to  it  what  they  save  out  of  their  respec- 
tive revenues.     Hence  whatever  prevents  them  from  making  the 
most  of  their  respective  capitals,  or  drawing  from  them  the  largest 
revenue,  in  so  far  as  it  deprives  them  of  the  power  of  laying  past 
so   large  a  portion  of  that  revenue  as  they  otherwise  would,  must 
in  a  like  proportion  diminish  their  individual  accumulations,  and 
consequently  the  sum  of  all  their  accumulations,  or  the  amount 
added  to  the  national  capital.     But  all  laws  for  the  regulation  of 
commerce,  and  all  encouragements  given  to  particular  branches  of 
industry,  do  in  fact  prevent  individuals  from  turning  their  capitals 
into  the  channels  which,  but  for  these  regulations,  they  would 
prefer  as  offering  the  largest  returns.     They  must,  therefore,  it  is 
said,  to  a  certain  extent,  diminish  individual  accumulation,  and  con- 
sequently, in  an  equal  proportion,  the  increase  of  national  capital. 

Viewing,  then,  the  subject  in  this  simple  light,  and  taking  as 
undoubted  truths  the  assumptions  of  our  author,  that  individual 
and  national  wealth  increase  in  the  same  manner,  and  that  the 
manner  in  which  individuals  increase  their  riches  is  by  saving 
from  their  revenues,  we  would  easily  arrive  at  the  doctrine  he 
inculcates,  that  as  every  man  is  best  judge  of  his  own  interests, 
so  he  should  be  left  to  pursue  them  in  his  own  w^ay,  without  the 
legislator  at  all  interfering  with  his  operations,  or  pretending  to 
aid  or  direct  them. 

This  very  simple  view  of  the  subject  would,  however,  be 
defective  in  two  respects. 

1.  Though  it  is,  in  the  general,  true  that  individuals  may  find 
some  employment,  by  the  prosecution  of  which  they  may  procure 
a  revenue,  and  so,  by  saving  from  this  revenue,  acquire  wealth, 
or  add  to  what  they  have  before  acquired,  yet  it  seems  not  so 
clear  that  it  is  by  this  means  alone  that  nations  advance,  or  can 
advance,  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth  ;   because  it  must  occur  to 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  n 

US  that  materials  on  which  tlie  national  industry  may  be  employed 
are  to  be  provided,  and  often  are  or  may  be  wanting. 

2.  It  is  not  altogether  correct  to  say  that  the  sole  means, 
which  an  individual  employs  to  add  to  his  capital  is  the  process 
of  saving  from  revenue.  It  is  very  evident  he  must  first  gain 
this  revenue,  and  that  the  amount  he  gains,  and  consequently  the 
amount  he  can  save,  must  in  general  depend  on  the  talents  and 
y  capacities  he  possesses  for  the  prosecution  of  the  particular  era- 
\  ployment  to  which  he  devotes  himself.  As  an  inquiry,  there- 
fore, into  the  manner  in  which  an  individual  might  most  rapidly 
accumulate  wealth,  would  in  part  resolve  itself  into  an  exam- 
ination of  the  modes  by  which  he  might  acquire  the  greatest 
perfection  of  knowledge,  skill,  dexterity,  and  other  talents  and 
capacities,  tending  to  the  successful  prosecution  of  his  business ; 
so  an  inquiry  into  national  wealth,  even  supposing  the  process 
by  which  nations  and  individuals  add  to  their  riches  to  be  the 
same,  must  partly  resolve  itself  into  an  examination  of  the  modes 
by  which  the  knowledge,  skill,  and  dexterity  of  all  the  individ- 
uals in  a  nation,  in  the  various  businesses  and  professions  that  may 
be  carried  on  in  it,  may  be  raised  to  the  highest  pitch. 

These  two  circumstances  render  the  subject  more  intricate, 
than  the  first  shnple  view  we  might  be  inclined  to  take  of  it, 
would  lead  us  to  suspect.  An  attention  to  the  operation  of  either 
of  them  will  be  sufficient  to  show  that  that  identity  of  the  inter- 
ests of  individuals  and  states,  which  is  assumed  throughout  the 
Wealth  of  Nations,  is  not  a  self-evident  piinciple.  In  the  fol- 
lowing observations,  I  shall,  however,  confine  myself  to  the  for- 
mer of  them. 

Individuals,  it  is  very  clear,  in  general,  increase  their  capitals 
by  acquiring  a  larger  portion  of  the  common  funds.  While  one 
man  is  growing  rich,  another  is  becoming  poor,  and  the  change 
produced,  seems  not  so  much  a  creation  of  wealth,  as  a  pas- 
sage of  it  from  one  hand  to  another.  These  transfers  have  been 
going  on  in  all  ages  of  the  world  and  have  existed  equally,  in 
what  has  been  called  the  advancing,  the  stationary,  and  the  de- 
clining stages  of  society.  Every  where  this  means  of  acquiring 
wealth  is  open  to  individuals,  and  they  every  where  avail  them- 
selves of  it.  Let  any  one  in  any  country,  in  Great  Britain  for 
instance,  trace  backwards  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years  the  muta- 
tions  that  have   occurred   in  the   fortunes    of  the   persons  with 


12  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

whom  he  is  acquainted,  and  he  will  find  that  there  are  few, 
whose  circumstances  are  not  very  much  changed  from  what  they 
then  were.  Good  conduct,  good  fortune,  and  fmgality  have  made 
many  rich  who  were  then  poor ;  imprudence,  misfortune,  pro- 
digality have  made  many  poor  who  were  then  rich. 

But  while  that  man  has  thus  been  adding  house  to  house,  and 
farm  to  farm,  and  this  has  been  giving  up  one  portion  of  pro- 
perty after  another,  till  he  finds  all  he  once  possessed  in  the 
hands  of  others,  the  whole  mass  of  houses,  lands  and  wealth,  has 
undergone  but  little  alteration  ;  the  national  capital  itself,  remains, 
comparatively,  but  little  changed.  It  is  not  by  thus  acquiring 
wealth  previously  in  the  possession  of  others,  that  nations  enrich 
themselves.  But  a  very  small  pait  of  the  capital  of  any  com- 
munity, can,  I  suspect,  be  accounted  for,  by  tracing  its  passage 
from  any  other  community.  Instead  of  one  nation  growing 
rich,  and  another  poor,  we  rather  see  many  neighbouring  nations 
advancing  at  the  same  pace  towards  prosperity  and  affluence,  or 
declining  equally,  ,to  misery  and  want.  As  individuals  seem 
generally  io  grow  rich  by  grasping  a  larger  and  larger  portion  of 
the  wealtli  already  in  existence,  nations  do  so  by  the  production 
of  wealth  that  did  not  previously  exist.  The  two  processes  differ 
in  this,  that  the  one  is  an  acquisition,  the  other  a  creation. 
\  Ex  nihilo  nihil  jit.  Nothing  can  spring  out  of  nothing.  Every 
thing  that  exists  must  have  a  cause.  As  we  do  not  see  that  in- 
dividuals increase  their  w^ealth  by  creating  new  wealth,  we  do 
not  think  of  inquiring  how  the  riches  of  an  individual  came  to 
exist,  but  how  they  came  into  his  possession.  But  as  we  do  not 
see  how  nations  can  increase  their  wealth,  but  by  creating  new 
wealth,  we  naturally  inquire,  what  are  the  causes  of  the  wealth  of 
nations. 

Adam  Smith  asserts,  and  as  I  think  truly  asserts,  that  these 
causes  are  to  be  found  in  the  improvement  of  the  productive 
powers  of  human  labor.  Men,  and  therefore  nations,  are  said 
to  be  rich  or  poor  according  to  the  degree  in  which  they  can 
afford  to  enjoy  the  necessaries,  conveniences,  and  amusements  of 
human  life.  But  as  it  is  the  annual  labor  of  the  nation  which 
suppl  ies  these  necessaries,  conveniences  and  amusements ;  so  as 
this  labor  is  well  or  ill  directed,  the  supply  it  affords  must  be 
great  or  small.  The  skill,  dexterity,  and  judgment  with  which 
labor  is  applied  ;  that  is,  I  presume,  the  facility  of  the  operations 


\ 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  ];j 

which  it  employs  for  executing  its  ends,  and  the  accuracy  with 
which  it  conducts  them,  must  consequently  mainly  regulate  the 
amount  which  it  produces.  Thus  the  increase  of  the  skiU,  dex- 
terity and  judgment  with  which  the  national  labor  is  applied,  \ 
furnishes  us  with  a  cause  for  the  increased  productive  powers  of 
that  labor,  and  so  for  the  increase  of  the  national  wealth.  / 

This  account  of  matters  will  be  found  sufficiently  to  agree  with 
the  ideas  which  the  contemplation  of  their  progress  forces  on 
every  one.  When  we  are  told  that  an  individual  this  year  em- 
ploys in  agriculture  double  the  capital  which  he  employed  last 
year,  the  conception  which  most  readily  presents  itself  to  us  is, 
that  he  now  farms  double  the  land  w^hich  he  then  farmed,  owns 
double  the  number  of  horses,  cattle,  farming  utensils,  he.  and 
has  double  the  number  of  barns  and  other  necessary  buildings. 
When  we  are  told  that  a  country  has  double  the  agricultural 
capital  which  it  had  a  century  ago,  we  cannot,  of  course,  conceive 
that  its  farms  are  double  the  extent  they  then  were ;  neither  do 
we  conceive  that  its  farmers  have  simply  double  the  number  of 
barns  and  other  buildings,  of  cattle,  ploughs,  harrows,  and  other 
farming  utensils,  which  they  then  had.  We  conceive  a  change 
in  the  mode  in  which  its  fields  are  laid  out  and  tilled  ;  in  the 
form  and  qualities  of  the  stock ;  in  the  construction  of  all  the 
implements  of  husbandry  ;  in  the  size  and  arrangement  of  the 
barns  and  other  buildings,  and  that  through  these  changes  the 
national  agricultural  labor  produces  at  least  double  the  products  it 
formerly  did.  It  is  this  change  necessarily  involved  in  our  con- 
ception of  the  process  by  which  nations  increase  their  capitals, 
and  not  necessarily  involved  in  the  process  by  which  individuals 
increase  their  capitals,  that  constitutes  the  difference  between 
them.* 

Though  they  are  thus  essentially  different,  there  are  neverthe- 
less two  points  in  which  they  agree.  When  estimated  in  gold, 
silver,  or  any  other  instrument  of  exchange,  the  sum  at  which 
the  agricultural  property  presently  possessed  by  the  individual 


*  As  here  I  merely  aim  at  giving  a  very  general  view  of  the  subject,  I  only 
refer  to  what  generally  occurs.  In  this  and  some  other  instances  the  text 
does  not  apply  to  new  countries.  Communities  commonly  occupy  the  same 
territories  unchanged.  The  growth  of  such  communities  as  increase  by  occu- 
pying a  larger  and  larger  extent  of  territory  must  be  regulated  in  part  by  laws 
which  are  exceptions  to  those  that  apply  to  the  rest  of  mankind. 


14  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

would  be  rated  would  be  double  that  at  whicb  what  was  formerly 
in  his  possession  was  rated.  The  sum,  also,  at  which  the  present 
agricultural  property  of  the  nation  would  be  rated  would  be 
double  that  at  which  it  was  formerly  rated.  The  tilings,  too, 
that  so  estimated  formed  the  increase  in  both,  would  have  been 
produced  by  man  :  they  would  be  his  works.  But  though  two 
things  may  both  be  estimated  as  worth  a  sum  of  money,  and  may 
both  be  works  of  man,  it  follows  not  that  the  principles  which 
have  produced  them  are  perfecdy  similar.  The  poemof  Childe 
Harold  cost  the  publisher  a  certain  sum  ;  so  did  the  paper  on 
which  it  was  printed.  They  both,  too,  were  works  of  man,  and 
required  mental  and  corporeal  energy  to  produce  them  ;  but  we 
should  not,  therefore,  say  the  principles  that  produced  them  were 
precisely  similar. 

Within  a  few  centuries  the  national  capital  of  Great  Britain 
has  increased  tenfold.  Could  we  imagine  that  we  could  tell 
this  fact  to  some  one  of  the  men  of  the  olden  time,  waked  from 
the  slumber  of  the  tomb  and  raised  up  to  us,  we  may  suppose  he 
would  ask  how  it  could  be  ;  how  there  could  have  been  produced 
so  mighty  a  change  ;  or  from  whence  so  full  a  tide  of  wealth 
could  have  flowed  in  upon  us.  But  were  we  then  to  take  him 
abroad  and  show  him  the  wonders  and  achievements  of  art  with 
which  the  land  is  overspread  ;  the  various  processes  carried  on  in 
our  manufactories  and  workshops ;  the  scientific  labors  of  the 
agriculturist ;  the  curious  mechanism  with  which  the  vast  bulk  of 
our  ships  is  put  together  and  guided ;  fire  and  water  transformed 
into  our  obedient  drudges,  excavating  harbors  and  draining 
mines  for  us,  carrying  us  over  the  land  with  the  speed  of  the 
wind,  bearing  us  through  the  ocean  against  tide  and  storm ; 
he  would  no  longer  wonder  whence  the  wealth  was  that  he  saw 
around,  or  that  the  land  yielded  tenfold  what  it  had  done  of  old, 
though  he  might  well  demand  how  the  power  had  been  acquired 
that  had  wrought  so  great  a  change. 

Were  such  a  thing  possible  as  we  are  thus  imagining  we  can 
scarce  suppose  that  any  one  would  be  found  to  reply,  the  whole 
process  is  nothing  extraordinary  ;  it  is  just  the  same  as  you  must 
have  seen  in  your  own  days,  when,  by  continual  parsimonious 
saving,  an  individual  accumulated  ten  times  the  capital  he  once 
had  ;  he  began,  perhaps,  with  one  house  and  died  owing  ten. 
Such  an  assertion  would  evidently  be  absurd. 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  I5 

Inyention  is  the  only  jqwer  on  earth,  that  can  be  said  to  cre- 
ate.* It  enters  as  an  essential  element  into  the  process  of  the 
Increase  of  national  wealth,  because  that  process  is  a  creation,  not 
an  acquisition.  It  does  not  necessarily  enter  into  the  process  of 
the  increase  of  individual  wealth,  because  that  may  be  simply 
an  acquisition,  not  a  creation.  The  assumption,  therefore,  that 
the  two  processes  are  perfectly  similar  is  incorrect,  and  the  doc- 
Irine  which  I  have  designated  as  that  of  the  identity  of  the  in- 
terests of  individuals  and  communities  cannot  be  thus  established. 

The  ends  which  individuals  and  nations  pursue,  are  different. 
The  object  of  the  one  is  to  acquire,  of  the  other  to  create.  The 
means  which  they  employ,  are  also  difierent ;  industry  and  par- 
simony increase  the  capitals  of  individuals  ;  national  wealth, 
understood  in  its  largest  and  truest  sense,  as  the  wealth  of  all 
nations  cannot  be  increased,  but  tlirough  the  aid  also  of  the  in- 
ventive faculty.  Though  each  member  of  a  community  may  be 
desirous  of  the  good  of  all,  yet  in  gaining  wealth,  as  he  only  seeks 
his  own  good,  and  as  he  may  gain  it  by  acquiring  a  portion  of  the 
wealth  already  in  existence,  it  follows  not  that  he  creates  wealth. 
The  community  adds  to  its  wealth  by  creating  wealth,  and  if  we 
understand  by  the  legislator  the  power  acting  for  the  community, 
it  seems  not  absurd  or  unreasonable  that  he  should  direct  part 
of  the  energies  of  the  community  towards  the  furtherance  of  this 
power  of  invention,  this  necessary  element  in  the  production  of 
the  wealth  of  nations. 

In  the  following  cases  it  would  at  least  seem  not  improbable, 
that  the  power  of  the  legislator  so  directed,  might  be  beneficial. 

I.  In  promoting  the  progress  of  science. 

II.  In  promoting  the  progress  of  art. 

1.  By  encouraging  the  discovery  of  new  arts. 

2.  By  encouraging  the  discovery  of  improvements  in  the  arts 
already  practised  in  the  country. 


*  I  make  use  of  the  term  creation,  because  that  of  production,  which  other- 
wise I  should  have  preferred,  has  been   employed   in   another  sense.     I  trust 
my  motives  will  not  be  misconceived.    "  Etiam  inventa  quasi  novce  creationes 
sunt,  et  divinorum  operum  imitamenta,  ut  bene  cecinit  ille  : 
"  Primum  frucriferos  foetus  mortalibus  agris 
Dididerant  quondam  preestanti  nomine  Athenas  : 
Et  recreaterunt  vitam,  legesque  rogarunt." 

jYovum  Org.  CXXIX. 


](]  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

3.  By  encouraging  the  discovery  of  methods  of  adapting  arts, 
ah-eady  practised  in  other  countries  to  the  particular  circumstances 
of  the  territory  and  community  for  which  he  legislates. 

In  the  attainment  of  all  these  objects,  the  aid  of  the  inventive 
faculty  is  required.  Our  judgment  of  their  propriety  or  impro- 
priety, as  far  as  this  is  determined  by  their  direct  tendency  to 
promote  the  wealth  of  the  community,  would  seem  to  depend 
on  two  circumstances.  1 .  On  the  probability  of  their  success, 
and  of  this  success  enabling  the  industry  of  its  members  to  ac- 
quire with  increased  facility  some  of  the  necessaries,  conveniences, 
or  amusements  of  hfe,  the  capacity  for  producing  which,  mea- 
sures the  general  revenue  and  riches.  2.  On  the  probability  of 
the  future  wealth  to  be  derived  from  this  new  source,  being  suf- 
ficient to  repay  the  expenditure  of  present  wealth  necessary  to 
open  it  up. 

As  far  as  any  considerations,  which  I  have  as  yet  presented  to 
the  reader,  warrant  us  in  forming  a  conclusion,  it  certainly 
does  appear  not  impossible,  or  unlikely,  that  there  might  be  in- 
stances in  which  the  legislator  might,  with  advantage  to  the  pro- 
gress of  the  wealth  of  the  community,  direct  the  energies  of  some 
of  its  members  towards  discoveries  in  all  these  different  depart- 
ments of  knowledge  and  action. 

But  in  doing  so,  he  always  acts  contrary  to  this  doctrine.  It 
teaches  that  he  ought  never  to  disturb  the  natural  course  of 
events  ;  that  is,  the  course  which  the  efforts  of  individuals,  unin- 
terfered  w^ith,  by  him,  would  give  to  these  events.  His  agency 
so  directed,  according  to  this  doctrine,  must  be  injurious  ;  be- 
cause, in  every  instance,  it  in  part  changes  the  direction,  and 
in  part  retards  the  progress  of  the  natural  course  of  events.  In 
every  such  instance,  he  directs  the  industry  of  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  society  from  gaining  a  revenue  by  the  practice  of  old 
arts  and  so  accumulating  capital,  to  the  discovery  either  of  ma- 
terials for  new  arts,  or  of  means  of  adapting  old  ones  to  new 
countries.  By  doing  so,  he  takes  from  the  national  revenue,  and 
retards,  consequently,  the  accumulation  of  the  national  capital. 

This  doctrine,  as  given  by  Adam  Smith,  is  in  general,  blended 
with  theoretical  principles  afterwards  to  be  considered.  The 
following  is  an  abstract  of  it,  in  his  own  words,  from  different 
parts  of  his  system,  separated  from  these  principles. 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  I7 

"  The  capital  of  all  the  individuals  in  a  nation  is  Increased  in 
the  same  manner  as  that  of  a  single  individual,  by  their  contin- 
ually accumulating  and  adding  to  it  whatever  they  save  out  of 
their  revenue.*  As  the  national  capital  is  thus  increased  by 
parsimony,  so  it  is  diminished  by  prodigality  and  misconduct. 
The  conduct  of  those  whose  expense  just  equals  their  revenue, 
without  either  accumulating  or  encroaching,  neither  mcreases  nor 
diminishes  it.  It  can  seldom  happen  that  the  circumstances  of 
a  great  nation  can  be  much  affected  by  the  prodigality  of  indi- 
viduals; the  profusion  of  some,  being  always  more  than  com- 
pensated by  the  frugality  and  good  conduct  of  others.  Men  are 
prompted  to  expense,  by  the  desire  of  present  enjoyment,  a 
passion  only  momentary  and  occasional.  They  are  prompted  to 
save  by  the  desire  of  bettering  their  condition,  a  passion  which 
comes  with  them  from  the  womb,  and  never  leaves  them  till  they 
go  to  the  grave.  In  the  whole  course  of  life  of  the  greater  part 
of  men,  therefore,  though  the  principle  of  expense  prevails  oc- 
casionally, yet  the  principle  of  frugality  predominates,  and  pre- 
dominates very  greatly."  f 

"  The  principle  exciting  to  frugality,  the  uniform,  constant,  and 
uninteiTupted  effort  of  every  man  to  better  his  condition,  pro- 
duces both  public  and  national,  as  well  as  private  opulence,  and 
is  frequently  more  than  sufficiently  powerful  to  counteract  the 
extravagance  of  government,  and  the  greatest  errors  of  adminis- 
tration. Like  the  unknown  principle  of  animal  life,  it  frequently 
restores  health  and  vigor  to  the  constitution,  in  spite,  not  only  of 
the  disease,  but  of  the  absurd  prescriptions  of  the  doctor.."!:  Alone 
and  without  any  assistance,  it  is  capable,  not  only  of  canying  on 
the  society  to  wealth  and  prosperity,  but  of  surmounting  a  hun- 
dred impertinent  obstructions  with  which  the  folly  of  human 
laws  too  often  encumbers  its  operations."  <§> 

The  reader  will  perceive,  that  the  whole  force  of  these  ar- 
guments lies  in  the  assumption,  that  the  process  of  the  increase 
ol  national  capital,  is  precisely  the  same  as  that  of  the  increase  of 
individual  capital. 

The  observation  of  Bacon  is  now  trite,  that  men  believe  that 
the  words  they  employ  in  the  process  of  reasoning,  serve  the 
intellect  as  mere  passive  instruments,  but   that,  in  reality,  they 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  II.  c.  IV.  i  Ibid.  B.  II,  c.  III. 

t  B.  II.  c.  III.  §  Ibid.  B.  IV.  c.  V. 

3 


[8  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

have  often  an  active  reflex  power,  through  which,  while  the 
mind  deems  it  governs  them,  they  are  enabled  to  usurp  the  com- 
mand of  it,  and  so  misdirect  its  course. 

Our  author  notices  the  errors,  which,  in  this  way,  have  arisen 
from  the  use  of  the  term  money. 

"  Money,  in  common  language,  as  I  have  already  observed, 
frequently  signifies  wealth  ;  and  this  ambiguity  of  expression  has 
rendered  this  popular  notion  so  familiar  to  us,  that  even  they  who 
are  convinced  of  its  absurdity,  are  very  apt  to  forget  their  own 
principles,  and,  in  the  course  of  their  reasonings,  to  take  it  for 
granted  as  a  certain  and  undeniable  truth.  Some  of  the  best 
English  writers  upon  commerce  set  out  with  observing,  that  the  | 

wealth  of  a  country  consists,  not  in  its  gold  and  silver  only,  but  m 

in  its  lands,  houses,  and  consumable  goods  of  all  different  kinds.  ' 

In  the  course  of  their  reasonings,  however,  the  lands,  houses, 
and  consumable  goods,  seem  to  slip  out  of  their  memory ;  and 
the  strain  of  their  argument  frequently  supposes  that  all  wealth 
consists  in  gold  and  silver,  and  that  to  multiply  those  metals,  is 
the  great  object  of  national  industry  and  commerce."  * 

It  is  remarkable  that,  in  the  use  of  the  term  capital,  he  himself 
leads  his  readers  into  a  somewhat  similar  error.  Capital  means  in 
common  language  a  sum  of  money,  or  something  for  which  a  sum 
of  money  can  be  got ;  and,  as  the  increase  both  of  national  and  in- 
dividual capital  produces  a  sum  of  money,  or  something  for  which  a 
sum  of  money  can  be  got,  the  similar  estimation  of  both  by  a  row 
of  figures  is  the  thing  that  in  this  way  naturally  comes  uppermost 
to  the  mind,  and  hence,  the  things  themselves  in  both  cases  formino- 
the  increase  not  being  immediately  present  to  its  thoughts,  it  heed- 
lessly falls  into  the  conclusion  that  they  also  are  perfectly  similar. 
In  comparing  indeed  the  national  capital  as  it  has  existed  at  distant 
periods,  the  small  national  capital  of  remote  periods  with  the  large 
national  capital  of  the  present,  we  immediately  perceive,  that  not 
only  the  sum  at  which  the  national  wealth  was  formerly  rated  is 
increased,  but  that  the  things  which  constituted  it  are  changed. 
The  wealth  of  England  is  certainly  ten  times  now  what  it  was  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  the  VIII ;  we  do  not  conceive,  however,  that 
it  is  formed  by  the  multiplying  tenfold  such  articles  as  constituted 
the  sole  riches  of  its  inhabitants  in   that  somewhat  rude  and  bar- 

*  B.  IV.  c.  I.     Vide  note  D. 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  19 

barous  age.  We  perceive  here,  that  there  is,  and  must  be,  not 
only  an  increase,  but  a  change.  When,  however,  we  come  to 
consider  the  smaller  parts  of  which  this  increase  is  gradually  made 
UD,  as  the  change  here  is  not  perhaps  perceptible,  and  as  all  we 
see  is  the  sum  produced  by  it,  the  fact  of  the  increase  being  more 
easily  ascertained  than  the  manner  of  it,  the  similarity  of  the  terms 
naturally  inclines  us  to  conceive  that  it  resembles  the  increase  of 
individual  capital,  and  consists  of  a  mere  increase  ©y  things,  not  of 
a  change  also  in  them.  Would  we  take  time  to  consider  of  it, 
we  must  perceive  that  such  an  increase  of  national  capital  as  indi- 
viduals make  of  individual  capital,  is,  at  least,  unlikely,  seeing 
there  is  no  apparent  cause  for  it.  Considering  capital  in  general, 
the  only  use  we  can  discover  for  it  is  its  enabling  the  community 
to  draw  from  the  resources  the  country  affords,  the  necessaries, 
conveniences,  and  amusements  of  life,  its  supply  of  which,  accord- 
ing to  our  author,  constitutes  its  real  wealth.  It  is  only  so  far  as 
it  is  instrumental  to  this  end  that  we  can  see  a  use,  and  therefore 
find  a  reason,  for  its  existence.  Now,  as  one  individual  is  more 
provident  and  prudent  than  another,  we  can  easily  conceive  how 
one  may  come  to  procure  for  himself  a  greater  share  than  another 
of  the  national  funds,  the  means,  or  instruments,  serving  to  unlock 
the  stores  which  the  nation  possesses  ;  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to  con- 
ceive how,  or  for  what  purpose,  a  general  increase  of  these  means 
or  instruments  should  take  place  without  some  accompanying  dis- 
covery of  an  improvement  in  their  construction  by  which  they 
may  put  additional  stores  within  reach  of  the  nation. 

We  may  easily  perceive  this,  by  attending  to  any  of  the  nu- 
merous small  items  of  which  the  national  capital  is  composed. 
I  shall  take  an  example  of  a  very  small  one.  The  only  instru- 
ment used  for  threshing  out  grain  in  Great  Britain,  until  of  recent 
years,  was  the  flail.  Hence  one  or  more  flails  formed  a  part, 
though  a  small  part,  of  every  farmer's  capital,  and  therefore  all 
the  flails  that  all  the  farmers  had,  a  part,  though  an  exceedingly 
inconsiderable  part,  of  the  national  capital.  So  simple  an  instru- 
ment and  one  so  easily  formed,  was  made,  I  believe,  generally, 
by  the  farmer  or  his  servants,  though  sometimes,  by  professed 
mechanics.  In  whatever  way  fabricated,  it  is  evident,  however, 
that  the  number  of  flails  made,  though  from  the  convenience  of 
having  a  supply  provided  before  hand  they  would  exceed, 
could  never  much  exceed,  the  number  of  persons  employed  in 


20  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

the  operation  of  threshing.  A  professed  flail-maker  indeed,  if 
dihgent  and  intelhgent,  might,  by  the  aid  of  these  quahties,  have 
been  able  to  make  them  clieaper  than  his  neighbors,  and,  if 
economical,  to  extend  his  business  and  come  to  have  some  amount 
of  capital  in  this  shape.  But,  though  thus,  by  his  industry  and 
frugality,  an  individual  might  have  accumulated  capital  under 
this  form  to  an  extent  to  which  we  can  set  no  precise  limits,  the 
national  capital  never  could  have  been  so  increased,  because,  if 
one  person  by  greater  diligence  and  activity,  made  more  flails, 
another,  from  a  deficiency  of  these  qualities,  would  make  fewer; 
or,  if  we  suppose  all  the  makers  of  the  instrument  to  be  alike  in- 
dustrious, and  thus  the  stock  of  it  to  accumulate,  so  as  to  do  more 
than  supply  the  wants  of  the  threshers,  the  article  would  remain 
on  their  hands,  and  they  would  naturally  cease  to  produce  the 
superabundant  supply.  While,  tlierefore,  the  instrument  retain- 
ed this  less  perfect  form,  it  is,  I  think,  pretty  evident,  that, 
though  individuals  might  accumulate  capital  by  making  flails, 
neither  the  national  capital,  nor  the  national  revenue,  would  be 
nmch  increased  by  their  efforts  so  directed. 

About  forty  years  ago,  the  easier  and  more  perfect  method  of 
executing  this  process,  by  what  is  called  the  threshing  machine, 
was  invented.     These  new  instruments,  though  far  more  expen- 
sive than  the  former,  yet,  performing  the  operation  more  effectu- 
ally, and  with  much  less  labor,  became  naturally  things  Vvhich 
farmers  were  desirous  of  having.     A  farmer  could  have  had  no 
motive  to  accumulate  but  a  very  trifling  capital  in  the  shape  of 
flails,  because  half  a  dozen  were  as  useful  to  him  as  half  a  thou- 
sand ;  but  he  had  a  great  motive  to  accumulate  a  considerable 
capital  in  the  shape  of  a  threshing  machine,  because  it  would  save 
him  much  annual  expenditure  of  labor,  and  the  operation  so  per- 
formed, separating  the  grain  more  effectually,  would  give  him  a 
small  addition  to  the  corn  yielded  by  his  subsequent  crops.    Ac- 
cordingly its  invention  was  followed  by  the  accumulation  in  this 
form,  of  a  large  amount  of  capital,  and  so  by  an  increase  of  the 
whole  agricultural  capital  of  the  nation.     But,  besides  this  direct 
effect,  the  saving  it  produced  in  one  of  the  main  processes  of  agri- 
culture augmented  the  profits  of  the  farmers,  and  tended,  therefore, 
to  make  all  farmers  cultivate  their  farms  more  perfectly,  and  some 
to  engage  in  improving  land  not  before  cultivated.     Both  the 
direct  and  the  indirect  effects  of  this  invention,  therefore,  must 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  21 

have  helped,  in  no  inconsiderable  degree,  to  augment  the  agri- 
cultural capital,  and  so  the  whole  capital  of  the  nation. 

"  It  readily  occurs  to  every  individual  that  the  quantity  of 
hardware,  the  number  of  pots  and  pans,  is  in  every  country 
limited  by  the  use  which  there  is  for  them ;  that  it  would  be 
absurd  to  have  more  of  such  utensils  than  are  necessary  for 
cooking  the  victuals  usually  consumed  there ;  and  that,  if  the 
quantity  of  victuals  were  to  increase,  the  number  of  pots  and 
pans  would  readily  increase  along  with  it ;  a  part  of  the  in- 
creased quantity  of  victuals  being  employed  in  purchasing  them, 
or  in  maintaining  an  additional  number  of  workmen  whose  busi- 
ness it  was  to  make  them."*  But,  though  the  national  capital 
cannot  thus  be  supposed  to  accumulate  in  the  shape  of  ,an  ad- 
ditional number  of  pots  and  pans,  individuals  who  deal  in  hard- 
ware frequently  accumulate  capitals  in  this  shape,  to  a  large 
amount.  We  can  easily  conceive,  that  the  national  capital  also, 
might  accumulate  in  this  shape,  were  some  discovery,  producing 
an  improvement  in  the  manufacture,  to  occur.  Were  a  method 
discovered  of  procuring  and  manufacturing  platina,  or  some 
metal  similar  to  it,  at  only  four  or  five  times  the  cost  of  brass, 
it  would,  without  doubt,  be  employed  in  the  fabrication  of 
kitchen  utensils  of  all  sorts.  Not  being  acted  on  by  fire,  and 
other  destroying  agents,  it  would  save  a  great  deal  of  the  drudg- 
ery of  the  kitchen,  and,  though  more  costly  at  first,  would  pro- 
bably, on  the  whole,  be  preferred  by  good  economists.  Thus, 
pots  and  pans  becoming  more  expensive  articles,  the  amount  of 
national  capital,  or  stock,  accumulated  in  them,  would  be  much 
greater,  and,  through  this  improvement,  the  whole  national  cap- 
ital would,  with  advantage  to  the  society,  be  somewhat  aug- 
mented. 

If  any  one  will,  in  a  similar  manner,  consider  any  of  the  other 
articles  which  help  to  make  up  the  national  capital,  I  think  he 
will  have  difiiculty  in  assigning  a  sufficient  reason,  from  any  of 
the  views  presented  in  the  Wealth  of  JNations,  for  its  increase, 
unless  he  connect  this  increase,  somehow  or  another,  with  some 
improvement  in  the  particular  department  of  industry  of  which 
its  production  makes  a  part,  or  in  some  other  department  de- 
pendent on  it.     He  will  perceive,  that,  though  there  is  no  dif- 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  IV.  c.  I. 


22  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

ficuhy  in  conceiving  that  an  individual  may  accumulate  a  very 
large  capital  in  the  form  of  any  of  those  articles  or  commodities, 
the  total  of  which  make  up  the  national  capital ;  with  the  excep- 
tion, perhaps,  of  money  itself,  there  Is  difficulty  in  discovering  a 
reason  for  the  accumulation  of  any  of  them,  throughout  the 
whole  community,  so  as  to  form  any  sensible  addition  to  the 
national  capital. 

It  may  perhaps  appear,  that,  in  whatever  shape  the  individual 
members  of  the  community  may  accumulate  capital,  yet,  that 
the  efforts  of  the  greater  number  being  thus  directed,  they  might 
accumulate  it  under  some  shape  or  another.  We  are  not,  how- 
ever, it  will  be  recollected,  here  discussing  a  possibility,  but  a 
self-evident  principle  ;  not  what  might  be,  but  what  must  be. 
Now,  there  is  no  necessity  for  imagining  that  this  must  be  the 
case,  for,  without  entering  at  all  into  the  minutiae  of  the  subject, 
it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  that  the  action  of  the  principle 
which  prompts  to  save,  itself  brings  about  a  state  of  things, 
which  diminishes  the  desire  to  save.  A  person  must  be  most 
desirous  of  getting  money  when  he  perceives,  that  by  the  ac- 
quisition of  it,  he  could  make  a  great  deal  out  of  it ;  when  it  is 
manifest  to  him,  that,  if  he  had  a  sufficient  capital,  he  could  enter 
on  some  branch  of  business  that  would  be  very  profitable.  When 
an  opening  of  this  sort  presents  itself  to  a  prudent  and  enterpris- 
ing, though  poor  man,  the  exertions  he  makes  to  gather  together 
a  small  sum  are  sometimes  almost  incredible.  But,  if  the  prin- 
ciple were  to  prevail  so  generally  as  to  fill  up  every  branch  of 
business  within  the  society,  the  desire  to  acquire  capital  so  as  to 
enter  on  some  of  the  particular  businesses  carried  on  in  the  society 
would  naturally  be  diminished  throughout  the  whole  country  ; 
and  this  general  diminution  of  the  motives  to  accumulate,  might 
be  sufficient  to  preserve  the  national  capital  within  the  bounds 
it  had  acquired,  and  prevent  it,  for  a  time,  from  gaining  farther 
increase- 

Nor  is  there  any  thing  in  the  appearance  of  human  afiairs, 
which  should  induce  us  to  conclude,  that  the  increase  of  national 
capital  ever  does,  in  fact,  proceed,  unless  in  conjunction  with 
some  successful  effort  of  the  inventive  faculty,  some  improve- 
ment of  some  of  the  employments  formerly  practised  in  the 
community,  or  some  discovery  of  new  arts.  If  we  cast  our  eyes 
over  the  results,  which  either  reading  or  observation  presents  to 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  23 

US,  concerning  the  condition  of  different  nations,  we  gather  from 
our  review,  that  many  of  them,  in  regard  to  the  acquisition  of 
wealth,  have  apparently  remained  stationary  for  ages,  although 
undisturhed  hy  external  violence,  and  unmolested  by  internal 
tumults.  During  all  the  time,  however,  the  process  of  individual 
accumulation  was  going  on  ;  men  were  continually  rising  from 
poverty  to  affluence,  founding  families,  and  leaving  wealth  to 
their  descendants  ;  but  this  wealth  passed  away  from  them ; 
what  the  father  gathered  was  not  able  to  maintain  his  race,  and 
they  gradually  sank  to  the  rank  from  which  he  had  emerged. 
The  proportion,  meantime,  between  rich  and  poor,  and  the  total 
wealth  of  the  community,  remained  but  little  changed. 

At  length,  in  some  quarter  or  another,  an  improvement  began 
to  be  perceived.  What  do  we  find  to  have  been  the  most 
prominent  accompaniment  of  this  change  ?  Is  it  a  diminished 
expenditure  —  an  increased  parsimony  —  a  frugality  before  un- 
known ?  I  believe  not.  Any  great  diminution  of  the  expen- 
diture of  a  whole  community,  it  will  be  found  difficult  to  trace, 
but  we  shall  always  discover  that  invention  has  somehow  or 
another  been  busy,  either  in  improving  agriculture  and  the  other 
old  arts,  or  in  discovering  new  ones. 

It  is  only  when  some  great  and  striking  improvement  issues 
from  the  exertions  of  the  inventive  power,  that  we  in  general, 
attend  to  its  effects.  Every  one  readily  grants,  that,  but  for  the 
invention  of  the  steam  engine,  the  capital  of  Great  Britain  would 
want  much  of  its  present  vast  amount.  We  perceive  not  so 
readily  the  numerous  small  improvements,  which  have  been 
gradually,  from  year  to  year,  spreading  themselves  through  every 
department  of  the  national  industry.  But,  though  not  so  pal- 
pably forced  on  our  observation,  we  pass  them  by,  they  never- 
theless exist,  and  sufficiently  account  for  the  manner  in  which 
the  national  capital  has  been  augmenting,  by  being  gradually 
accumulating  in  them,  without  the  necessity  of  stvpposing  that  it 
ever  has  augmented  precisely  as  that  of  individuals  generally 
does,  by  a  simple  multiplication,  under  the  same  form,  of  any 
or  all  the  items,  of  which  its  amount  was  before  made  up. 

Adam  Smith  himself  admits,  that  a  country  may  come  to  be 
fully  stocked  in  proportion  to  all  the  business  it  has  to  transact, 
and  have  as  great  a  quantity  of  stock  employed,  in  every 
particular  branch,  as  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  territory  will 


24  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

admit.  He  speaks  of  Holland  also,  as  a  country  which  had 
then  nearly  acquired  its  fidl  compliment  of  riches  ;  where,  in 
every  particular  branch  of  business,  there  was  the  greatest 
quantity  of  stock  that  could  be  employed  in  it.*  It  would 
then  appear  that,  even  according  to  him,  the  principle  of  indi- 
vidual accumulation,  as  a  means  of  advancing  the  national  cap- 
ital, has  limits  beyond  which  it  cannot  pass.  The  same 
cannot  be  said  of  that  increase  which  is  derived  from  the  at- 
tainment of  those  objects  at  which  the  inventive  faculty  aims. 
Had  Holland,  sixty  years  ago,  been  put  in  possession  of  the  as- 
tonishing improvements  in  mechanical  and  manufacturing  indus- 
try, which,  since  that  period,  have  sprung  up  in  Great  Britain, 
who  can  suppose  that  she  would  have  wanted  ability  to  continue 
in  the  successful  pursuit  of  wealth ;  or,  that  she  would  not  have 
started  forward  with  fresh  vigor  in  the  career,  and  advanced  in 
it  with  greater  rapidity  than  in  any  former  period  of  her  history? 

There  is  no  avoiding  the  admission,  that,  to  every  great  ad- 
vance which  nations  make  in  the  acquisition  of  wealth,  it  is  ne- 
cessary that  invention  leading  to  improvement  should  lend  its 
aid  ;  and,  granting  this,  it  necessarily  follows,  as  when  one  cause 
is  discovered  sufficient  to  account  for  the  phenomena,  we  should 
confine  ourselves  to  it,  that  we  are  not  warranted  to  assume 
that  they  make  even  the  smallest  sensible  progress  without  the 
aid  of  the  same  faculty. 

To  this  general  observation  there  are  only  two  apparent  ex- 
ceptions. The  progress  of  commerce  by  the  increase  of  some 
particular  branch  of  it,  or  by  the  opening  of  fresh  branches  ;  and 
the  settlement  of  new  countries. 

If  these,  however,  should  be  esteemed  exceptions  to  the 
observation  with  regard  to  any  particular  nation  or  nations,  they 
are  extensions  of  it  with  regard  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth ; 
implying  that  the  increase  of  general  wealth  is  connected  with 
the  general  spread  of  invention,  or  inventions,  over  the  world. 

The  principle,  therefore,  of  the  identity  of  the  interests  of 
nations  and  individuals  is  by  no  means  a  self-evident  principle. 
The  identhy  of  their  interests  can  only  follow  from  the  identity 
of  the  ends  which  they  pursue ;  but  these  ends  being,  as  far  as 
we  can  see,  identical  only  in  name,  and  in  reality  not  identical, 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  I.  c.  IX. 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  25 

the  presumption  rather  is,  that  the  means  also  by  which  they  are 
arrived  at  are  not  identical. 

It  seems  to  me,  that  it  requires  very  little  pausing  upon  the 
examination  of  this  principle  to  perceive  its  inconclusiveness  as 
an  argument.  It  is  a  principle,  nevertheless,  which,  like  other 
popular  doctrines  founded  merely  on  the  ambiguity  of  a  word, 
has  been  very  much  insisted  on,  and  meets  one  in  all  variety  of 
shapes.  On  this  account,  the  reader  may  perhaps  excuse  me,  for 
detaining  him  a  little  longer  on  the  consideration  of  it,  by  bring- 
ing before  him  a  passage  from  our  author,  which  may  serve  to 
expose  its  unsoundness,  by  showing  how  easily  it  may  be  made 
to  lead  to  the  most  obvious  fallacies.  "  The  annual  produce  of 
the  land  and  labor  of  England  is  certainly  much  greater  than  it 
was  more  than  a  century  ago  at  the  restoration  of  Charles  II. 
It  was  certainly  much  greater  at  the  restoration  than  we  can 
suppose  it  to  have  been  about  a  hundred  years  before,  at  the 
accession  of  Elizabeth.  At  this  period,  too,  we  have  reason  to 
believe,  the  country  was  much  more  advanced  in  improvement 
than  it  had  been  about  a  century  before,  towards  the  close  of  the 
dissensions  between  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster.  Even 
then  it  was  probably  in  a  better  condition  than  it  had  been  at  the 
Norman  Conquest ;  and  at  the  Norman  Conquest,  than  during 
the  confusion  of  the  Saxon  Heptarchy.  Even  at  this  early 
period  it  was  certainly  a  more  improved  country  than  at  the 
invasion  of  Julius  Caesar,  when  its  inhabitants  were  nearly  in  the 
same  state  with  the  savages  in  North  America. 

"  In  each  of  these  periods,  however,  there  was  not  only  much 
private  and  public  profusion,  many  expensive  and  unnecessary 
wars,  great  perversion  of  the  annual  produce  from  maintaining 
productive  to  maintain  unproductive  hands ;  but  sometimes,  in 
the  confusion  of  civil  discord,  such  absolute  waste  and  destruc- 
tion of  stock  as  might  be  supposed  not  only  to  retard,  as  it  cer- 
tainly did,  the  natural  accumulation  of  riches,  but  to  have  left  the 
country,  at  the  end  of  the  period,  poorer  than  at  the  beginning. 
Thus,  in  the  happiest  and  most  fortunate  period  of  tliem  all,  that 
which  has  passed  since  the  restoration,  how  many  disorders  and 
misfortunes  have  occurred,  which,  could  they  have  been  foreseen, 
not  only  the  impoverishment,  but  the  total  ruin,  of  the  country 
w^ould  have  been  expected  from  them.  The  fire  and  the  plague 
of  London,  the  two  Dutch  wars,  the  disorders  of  the  Revolution, 
4 


26  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

the  war  in  Ireland,  the  four  expensive  French  wars  of  1688, 
1702,  1742,  1750,  together  with  the  two  rebelhons  of  1715  and 
1745.  In  the  course  of  the  four  French  wars  the  nation  has 
contracted  more  than  £145,000,000  of  debt,  over  and  above  all 
the  other  extraordinary  annual  expense  which  they  occasioned ; 
so  that  the  whole  cannot  be  computed  at  less  than  £200,000.000  ; 
so  great  a  share  of  the  annual  produce  of  the  land  and  labor  of 
the  country  has,  since  the  Revolution,  been  employed  upon  dif- 
ferent occasions  in  maintaining  an  extraordinary  number  of  un- 
productive hands.  But  had  not  those  wars  given  this  particular 
direction  to  so  large  a  capital,  the  greater  part  of  it  would  natur- 
ally have  been  employed  in  maintaining  productive  hands,  whose 
labor  would  have  replaced  with  a  profit  the  whole  value  of  their 
consumption.  The  value  of  the  annual  produce  of  the  land  and 
labor  of  the  country  would  have  been  considerably  increased  by 
it  every  year,  and  every  year's  increase  would  have  augmented 
still  more  that  of  the  following  year.  More  houses  would  have 
been  built,  more  lands  would  have  been  improved,  and  those 
which  had  been  improved  before  would  have  been  better  culti- 
vated ;  more  manufactures  would  have  been  established,  and 
those  which  had  been  established  before  would  have  been  more 
extended  ;  and  to  what  height  the  real  wealth  and  revenue  of 
the  country  might  by  this  time  have  been  raised  it  is  not  per- 
haps very  easy  even  to  imagine."  * 

These  conclusions  would  indeed  ah  follow  did  individual  and 
national  capital  augment  on  precisely  the  same  principles ;  but 
as  the  progress  of  the  inventive  faculty,  an  essential  element  in 
the  increase  of  national  wealth,  is  here  left  out  of  the  calculation, 
we  have  good  reason  to  doubt  its  accuracy. 

Before  the  time  of  the  Essay  on  Population,  arguments  and 
conclusions  very  similar  to  these  were  brought  forward  concerning 
the  waste  of  human  life  in  wars,  and  the  consequent  amazing 
diminution  of  the  greatness  and  prosperity  of  nations.  Perhaps 
the  fallacy  of  the  one  doctrine  may  be  best  exposed  by  stating 
the  other. 

"  Nations,  it  was  said,  can  only  advance  in  greatness  and  pros- 
perity as  the  numbers  of  their  inhabitants  increase.  Whatever 
the  natural  fertility  of  the  soil,  however  genial  the  climate,  and 

'  Wealtli  of  Nations,  B.  II.  c.  III. 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  27 

however  well  fitted  the  whole  country  may  be  for  the  practice  of 
every  species  of  industry,  yet,  if  it  be  deficient  in  population, 
these  natural  riches  can  never  be  elaborated,  and  it  must  hold  a 
poor  and  inconsiderable  rank  in  the  scale  of  nations.  A  confined 
and  comparatively  barren  territory,  filled  with  a  numerous,  indus- 
trious population,  exceeds  the  most  fertile  and  extensive  country 
scantily  peopled.  It  is  the  people  that  make  the  state,  its  real 
riches  lie  in  its  inhabitants. 

"  But  as  population  increases,  and  can  only  increase,  by  more 
coming  into  the  world  than  go  out  of  it,  every  man  who  marries 
and  raises  a  family  is  a  public  benefactor,  and  the  practice  of 
celibacy,  so  far  from  being  a  virtue,  is,  in  reality,  a  great  public 
crime.  The  number,  however,  of  those  who  marry,  and  have 
children,  in  all  tolerably  quiet  and  peaceable  times,  much  ex- 
ceeds that  of  those  who  remain  single  ;  and,  consequently,  the 
number  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  has  continually  aug- 
mented, and,  had  it  not  been  for  the  wars  w^hich  the  ambition  of 
princes  has  stirred  up,  w^ould  have  been  still  much  farther  aug- 
mented. 

"  The  population  of  England  is  now  much  greater  than  at  the 
Restoration.  It  w^as  greater  at  the  Restoration  than  at  the 
accession  of  Elizabeth,  and  then  than  during  the  great  civil  wars. 
Even  then  it  was  greater  than  at  the  Conquest,  and  at  that  time, 
than  at  the  invasion  of  Julius  Cifisar. 

"  In  each  of  these  periods,  however,  there  were  not  only  many 
private  feuds  and  public  dissensions  ;  many  bloody  and  harassing 
wars  ;  great  perversion  of  the  powers  of  the  inhabitants  from  the 
production  to  the  destruction  of  life  ;  but  sometimes  such  dread- 
ful massacres  and  bloodshed,  so  great  multitudes  perishing  by  the 
svv'ord,  and  by  famine  following  up  its  ravages,  as  might  be  sup- 
posed not  only  to  have  retarded  the  increase  of  the  numbers  of 
the  inhabitants,  but  to  have  left  them  fewer  at  the  end  than  at 
the  beginning.  Had  it  not  been  for  these  events,  the  greater 
part  of  those  whom  they  carried  off  would  have  married  and  had 
children,  whose  whole  numbers  would  naturally  have  been  greater 
than  that  of  the  parents  who  procreated  them.  In  this  manner 
every  generation  would  have  exceeded  proportionably  the  one 
preceding  it.  The  number  of  industrious  hands  thus  produced 
would  have  built  more  houses,  would  have  improved  more  lands, 
and  would  have  cultivated  better  those  which  had  been  improv- 


23  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

ed  before  ;  more  manufactures  would  have  been  established,  and 
those  which  had  been  established  before  would  have  been  more 
extended,  and  how  far  the  population  of  the  country,  and  its  real 
wealth  and  strength,  might  have  been  carried  by  this  time,  it  is 
not  perhaps  very  easy  to  imagine." 

The  error  of  both  reasonings  arises,  in  the  same  manner,  from 
taking  what  is  merely  a  necessary  concomitant,  for  a  cause.  It 
is  perfectly  true,  that  the  real  wealth,  strength,  and  prosperity  of 
a  country,  cannot  advance,  but  as  its  population  advances,  and 
that  population  can  only  advance  by  more  being  brought  into  the 
world  than  go  out  of  it.  It  is  also  true  that  they  cannot  advance 
but  as  its  capital  advances,  and  that  its  capital  can  only  advance 
by  more  being  saved  than  is  spent.  But  when  it  is  said  in  either 
case,  that  as  they  can  only  advance  as  population  advances,  or 
as  accumulation  advances,  we  have  only  to  allow  population  to 
go  on  unrestrained,  or  only  to  allow  accumulation  to  go  on  un- 
checked, we  are  deceived,  and  led  to  unwarrantable  conclusions, 
by  a  sort  of  sleight  in  the  use  of  words. 

The  contemplation  of  a  couple  contending  with  unremitting 
labor  against  the  evils  of  poverty  and  want,  and,  however  occa- 
sionally pinched  by  them  themselves,  warding  them  off  with  care 
and  success  from  their  offspring,  and  rearing  up  a  numerous  and 
industrious  family,  is  a  very  pleasing  sight.  It  is  pleasing  as  an  ev- 
idence of  the  existence  of  some  of  the  best  and  purest  affections 
of  our  nature ;  it  is  pleasing,  also,  from  the  mere  view  of  the 
healthy  addition  thus  made  to  that  surest  stay  of  a  state,  an  in- 
dustrious and  frugal  population.  But  when  it  is  hence  assumed, 
that  nothing  is  wanting -to  augment  the  numbers  of  the  commu- 
nity, and  carry  it  forward  to  greatness,  than  that  similar  principles 
and  conduct  should  be  allowed  to  go  on  in  all  its  members  with- 
out restraint,  a  hasty  and  inaccurate  conclusion  is  drawn  from  a 
partial  view  of  a  complicated  subject.  The  numbers  of  a  state 
can  never  exceed,  what  its  resources  can  support.  When  these 
resources  are  augmented,  the  principles  which  tend  to  the  pre- 
servation and  multiplication  of  the  species  are,  in  all  well  regu- 
lated communities,  sufficiently  active  speedily  to  fdl  up  their 
numbers  to  the  amount  of  the  increased  supply. 

In  like  manner,  the  contemplation  of  honest  industry,  and  pa- 
tient frugality,  not  only  manfully  bearing  up  against  present  ne- 
cessity and  want,  but  repelling  them,  and  accumulating  a  plentiful 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  gg 

%J 
Store  to  answer  the  demands  of  futurity,  is   also  no  unpleasino- 

spectacle.  But  for  such  principles  neither  public  nor  private 
comfort  or  affluence  could  exist,  or  be  preserved.  But,  when  it 
is  hence  also  assumed,  that  nothing  else  is  wanting  to  carry  the 
community  forward  to  the  highest  degree  of  affluence  and  power, 
than  that  similar  principles  and  conduct,  through  all  its  members, 
should  be  encouraged,  and  allowed  to  go  on  w-ithout  check,  a 
conclusion  equally  unwarranted  and  equally  inaccurate,  is  drawn 
from  a  like  hasty  and  imperfect  view  of  a  great  subject.  The 
capital  of  a  state  is  a  mere  instrument  in  the  hands  of  its  indus- 
try, to  enable  it  to  draw  forth  the  riches,  with  which  the  conjoin- 
ed powers  of  nature  and  art  have  endowed  it.  A  multiplication 
of  instruments  is  of  no  avail,  unless  something  additional  be  given 
on  which  they  may  operate.  When  invention  succeeds  in  dis- 
covering these  additional  riches,  the  mere  view  is  sufficient,  in 
every  well  regulated  community,  to  induce  its  members  to  form 
the  new  instruments,  nfecessary  to  draw  these  riches  forth. 

There  must  be  some  strong  inherent  vice  in  any  community, 
where  the  certain  prospect  of  plentiful  subsistence  does  not  pro- 
duce an  abundant  population.  It  can  only  be,  also,  from  the 
effects  of  some  great  inherent  vice,  that,  in  any  community,  a 
very  profitable  investment  for  capital  can  be  held  out,  and  yet  cap- 
ital not  accumulate  with  rapidity.  Where  there  is  no  sufficient 
prospect  of  subsistence,  people  may  be  restrained  from  marriage 
by  the  dread  of  their  families  suffering  w'ant.  Where  there  is  no 
sufficient  prospect  of  profit,  people  may  be  withheld  from  accu- 
mulating capital,  because  they  may  see  no  sufficiently  profitable 
adventure  open  to  them  that  they  would  not  fear  to  embark  in. 
But  the  fact  is,  that  people,  rather  than  live  single,  are  inclined 
to  marry  at  all  risks,  and  hence  population  is  kept  down  by  mis- 
ery, and  premature  death  ;  and  they  are  also,  rather  than  do  no- 
thing, enclined  to  embark  in  adventures  where  the  chances  are 
against  their  success ;  hence  the  vast  numbers  of  unsuccessful 
projects  that  in  most  communities  are  continually  dissipating  pre- 
vious accumulations  of  capital.  To  form  aright  judgment  of  the 
power  of  any  community,  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances, 
of  increasing  its  population,  we  must  consider  the  additional  mar- 
riages which  would  take  place,  and  the  greater  numbers  that 
would  be  reared  to  maturity  from  such  as  do  take  place,  if  plen  - 
tiful  subsistence  w^ere  provided.     In  like  manner,  to  form  a  right 


30  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

judgment  of  the  powers  of  any  community,  under  the  most  fa- 
vorable circumstances,  to  increase  its  capital,  we  must  consider, 
that,  if  abundance  of  secure  and  profitable  investments  for  capital 
were  presented,  its  members  would  be  more  eager  to  possess  ad- 
ditional capital,  and,  therefore,  would  be  more  prompted  to  accu- 
mulate it ;  and  the  capital  they  possessed  would  be  more  produc- 
tive, and  would  not  be  subject  to  be  risked  and  lost  in  imprudent 
speculations. 

From  the  inconsiderable  rudiments  of  population  and  capital, 
which  Great  Britain  furnished  to  North  America,  is  to  be  traced 
the  great  amount  of  both,  of  which  that  flourishing  division  of  the 
globe  at  present  boasts.  The  former  has  increased  so  greatly, 
because  plentiful  subsistence  has  been  afforded  it :  the  latter,  be- 
cause profitable  and  secure  investments  have  been  presented  to 
it.  Had  it  been  possible  to  have  afforded,  and  had  the  same 
abundant  subsistence  been  afforded,  to  the  population,  and  the 
same  profitable  and  secure  investments  to  the  capital  remaining 
within  the  kingdom,  they  would  have  both  augmented,  we  have 
every  reason  to  believe,  in  a  ratio  equal  to  that  at  which  the  frag- 
ments of  both  that  went  to  North  America  have  augmented.  It 
certainly  was  not  the  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  but  the  rich 
soil  on  which  they  fell  on  the  other  side  of  it,  that  excited  them 
to  so  luxuriant  a  growth. 

This  great  productive  power  of  both  the  population  and  capi- 
tal of  a  country,  when  room  is  afforded  them  to  shoot,  seems  so 
easily  to  fill  up  any  gap  which  is  made  in  the  national  members 
or  stock,  that  a  calculation  founded  on  the  assumption,  that  any 
loss  in  either  which  a  nation  may  sustain,  necessarily  occasions  a 
proportionably  permanent  diminution  of  its  funds  must  evidently 
be  inconclusive.  It  is  very  doubtful  if  the  population  of  London 
or  England  would  have  been  greater  than  it  is  at  present,  had 
there  been  no  plague.  It  is  very  doubtful  also  if  the  capital  of 
London  or  of  England  would  have  been  greater  than  it  is  at  pres- 
ent, had  there  been  no  great  fire.  The  additional  demand  for 
labor  and  capital,  which  these  disasters  created,  may  very  well 
be  supposed  soon  to  have  brought  both  up  to  the  amount  they 
had  previously  attained. 

In  all  instances  of  such,  or  even  far  greater  calamities,  deslroy- 
ing  a  part  of  the  population  or  capital  of  a  country,  while  the 
principles  and  elements,  through  and  from  which  they  sprang,  are 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  3I 

not  consumed  along  with  them,  we  see  them  quickly  reproduced. 
When,  for  example,  the  great  destroyer  War  holds  his  course 
through  a  country,  and  clearing  wide  his  path  with  fire  and  sword, 
leaves  property  and  life  a  wreck  behind  him,  we  see  not  that  the 
traces  of  his  wrath  are  long  perpetuated ;  in  the  midst  of  the 
ruins  of  what  were,  lie  the  germs  of  what  are  to  be,  and  seizing 
on  the  elements  of  existence  that  lie  waste  around,  they  expand 
with  a  vigor  proportioned  to  the  magnitude  of  the  void  that  has 
been  made  for  them,  and  speedily  replenish  it.  Like  the  track 
of  the  whirlwind  through  the  forest,  the  present  desolation  is 
quickly  covered  up  and  obliterated  by  the  freshness  of  the  new 
growth,  to  which  that  very  desolation  gives  light,  and  air,  and  the 
means  of  existence.  We  should  think  the  calculation  rather 
fanciful,  which,  estimating  the  trees  overborne  by  the  blast  for  cen- 
turies, and  reckoning  the  increase  that  might  have  possibly  come 
from  each  of  them,  should  bring  out  as  a  correct  result,  that  all 
this  would  have  been  a  clear  addition  to  the  vegetable  life  of  the 
forest ;  and  that  so  much  greater  it  must  have  been  to-day,  had 
not  these  disasters  had  place.  Calculations  proceeding  on  the 
assumption  of  the  indefinite  increase  of  population  or  capital, 
without  showing  also  that  there  will  be  room  for  them,  are  but 
little  more  logical. 

Before  population  can  advance,  there  must  be  something  on 
which  it  can  subsist ;  before  capital  can  increase,  there  must  be 
something  in  which  it  may  be  embodied.  Produce  subsistence, 
and,  if  vice  prevent  it  not,  population  will  follow  ;  show  that  if 
capital  did  exist,  it  would  produce  great  profits,  and,  if  vice  pre- 
vent it  not,  capital  will  be  accumulated.  But,  until  there  be 
some  means  of  subsisting  the  population,  and  employing  the 
capital,  they  can  never,  by  simply  urging  on  then*  production,  be 
rationally  expected  to  be  much  augmented. 

It  is  invention,  which  showing  how  profitable  returns  may  be 
got  from  the  one,  and  how  subsistence  procured  from  the  other, 
that  may  most  fitly  be  esteemed  the  cause  of  the  existence  of 
both  ;  and  hence  this  power  has  most  title  to  be  ranked  as  the 
true  generator  of  states  and  people.  It  is  certainly,  therefore, 
very  far  from  being  a  self-evident  tmth,  that  the  legislator,  by  em- 
ploying the  resources  of  the  country  in  rousing  this  principle  to 
activity,  necessarily  retards,  instead  of  advancing,  the  increase  of 
wealth  and  the  prosperity  of  the  state. 


CHAPTER    II 


OP  THE  IDENTITY  OF  NATIONAL  AND  INDIVIDUAL  INTERESTS  CONSIDERED 
AS  A  THEORETICAL  PRINCIPLE. 

Though  the  doctrine  of  the  identity  of  the  interests  of  indi- 
viduals and  communities  cannot  be  estabhshed  as  a  simple  and 
self-evident  principle,  from  the  assumption  that  the  objects  which 
individuals  designedly  pursue,  for  their  private  emolument,  are 
precisely  those  which  most  promote  the  progress  of  the  general 
opulence  ;  and  though  in  this  sense,  as  we  have  seen,  the  identity 
of  the  ends  which  they  pursue  is  nominal,  not  real,  yet  it  follows 
not  from  this  that  the  doctrine  is  necessarily  erroneous.  Many 
doctrines  which  are  far  more  simple  or  self-evident  are  neverthe- 
less true.  Many,  which  at  first  sight  seem  even  contradictory  to 
experience,  are  found,  by  closer  examination,  to  be  legitimately 
deducible  from  it.  It  is  manifest  that  the  general  opulence,  how- 
ever brought  about,  results,  in  some  way  or  another,  from  the 
action  and  reaction  on  each  other  of  the  whole  system  of  persons 
and  things,  which  constitute  communities,  or  belong  to  them. 
It  is  then  at  least  possible  to  conceive  that  it  is  entirely  produced 
by  the  efforts  of  individuals  to  advance  their  private  fortunes. 
That,  though  it  is  the  object  of  individuals  to  acquire  wealth,  and 
of  nations  to  create  it,  yet  that  the  series  of  actions  which  the 
former  generate,  in  endeavoring  to  make  the  acquisition,  are 
precisely  those  which  are  best  calculated  to  forward  the  creation  ; 
and  that  thus,  unconsciously  to  himself,  each  member  of  the 
community,  while  seeking  merely  his  own  benefit,  necessarily 
adopts  the  very  course  which  ns  most  for  the  advantage  of  the 
society,  and,  to  use  our  author's  words,  "  is  led  in  this,  as  in  many 
other  instances,  by  an  invisible  hand,  to  promote  an  end  that  was 
no  part  of  his  intention." 

In  this  view  of  the  subject  the  doctrine  would  put  off  the  shape 
of  a  simple  principle,  and  assume  that  of  a  theory  deduced  from 


INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS,  &c.  33 

an  examination  of  the  whole  series  of  actions  that  are  concerned 
in  the  production  of  the  weakh  of  communities ;  and  m  this  way 
we  may  conceive  that  it  might  be  satisfactorily  proved  by  an 
extended  inquiry  into  the  Nature  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations. 

Such  is  the  theory  of  this  department  of  human  action,  which 
the  author  gives .  If  it  be  found  not  to  be  inconsistent  with  the 
phenomena,  but  fairly  deduced  from  them,  the  truth  of  the  peculiar 
doctrine,  which  it  is  the  aim  of  his  work  to  maintain,  would  be 
established  by  it. 

Before  endeavoring  to  explain  it,  or  attempting  to  show  wherein 
it  fails,  it  is  proper  to  remark  that  it  is  blended,  throughout  the 
whole  work,  with  that  notion  of  the  exact  identity  of  the  ends 
which  nations  and  individuals  pursue,  the  fallacy  of  which  I  trust 
I  have,  in  some  measure,  exposed  in  the  preceding  chapter.  I 
shall  afterwards  have  occasion  to  show  that  this  arrangement  of 
his  materials  sometimes  renders  his  arguments  illogical.  ]  am 
led  to  notice  it  at  present,  because  I  wish  to  account  for  the 
appearance  of  this  assumption,  unremarked  by  me,  in  the  analysis 
of  the  theory  I  am  about  to  give. 

It  must  be  apparent  to  every  one  acquainted  with  the  system, 
that  its  parts  would  not  in  any  way  hang  together,  if  deprived  of 
the  support  which  this  popular  notion  gives  to  them.  Indeed,  I 
conceive  that  the  truest  account  that  could  be  given  of  it,  would 
be  to  say,  that  it  is  altogether  founded  on  the  assumption  that 
national  and  individual  wealth  and  prosperity  increase,  and  must 
increase,  in  precisely  the  same  manner ;  and  that  the  theoretical 
part  of  it  merely  serves  to  show  how  the  increase  of  individual 
wealth  does,  in  reality,  produce  the  events  which  we  see  accom- 
panying national  wealth  ;  that  the  former  is  the  cause,  and  the 
sole  cause,  of  the  latter,  and  must  therefore  produce  all  the  phe- 
nomena attendant  on  it,  being  taken  for  an  undeniable  fact,  and 
the  author  seeming  merely  to  have  proposed  to  show  how  it  may 
be  supposed  to  produce  those  phenomena.  Thus,  were  wdiat  was 
once  the  popular  doctrme  concerning  population  still  held  to  be 
the  correct  one,  and  were  we  to  take  it  for  granted  as  an  unde- 
niable truth,  that,  as  the  national  strength,  and  revenue,  and  wealth 
can  only  advance  as  the  number  of  industrious  hands  that  form 
them  is  increased,  so  every  augmentation  of  the  population  of  a 
nation  is  an  addition  to  the  national  funds,  and  that,  therefore, 
things  ought  to  be  allowed  to  take  their  natural  course,  and  all 

5 


34  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

restraints  on  marriage  be  done  away  with,  the  assumption  and 
doctrine  might  be  supported  by  a  theory,  showing,  or  endeavor- 
ing to  show,  how  all  the  phenomena  attending  the  advance  of 
mankind  towards  prosperity  and  affluence  do,  in  fact,  result  from 
their  increasing  numbers. 

It  might,  perhaps,  in  support  of  such  a  view  of  the  subject,  be 
said,  "  that,  as  necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention,  so,  unless 
pressed^  by  want,  or  the  dread  of  it,  mankind  might  never  have 
exercised  their  ingenuity  in  discovering  even  the  rudiments  of 
the  arts ;  and  certainly  would  not  have  advanced  them  beyond 
the  most  unformed  and  imperfect  elements.  That,  while  in 
genial  climates  the  spontaneous  fruits  of  the  earth  afforded  them 
abundant  nourishment,  they  could  have  had  no  motive  to  tax  the 
labor  of  either  their  minds  or  bodies  to  produce  that  for  which 
they  had  no  need.  That  it  was  the  increase  of  their  numbers, 
which,  rendering  the  supplies  that  nature  had  dealt  out  to  them 
insufficient,  imposed  the  task  on  them  of  searching  out  the  means 
of  procuring  additions  to  them :  and  that  thus  necessity, 

"  Curis  acuens  mortalia  corda 

•»  Jr  *  «  » 

Ut  varias  usus  meditando  extunderet  artes 
Paulatim,  &c. —  " 

"  Whetting  human  industry  by  care 
That  studious  need  might  useful  arts  explore," 

is  in  truth  the  divinity  that  taught  mankind  the  most  essential  arts. 

"  Primo  Ceres  ferro  mortales  vertere  terram 
Instituit ;  cum  jam  glandes  atque  arbuta  sacrse 
Defecerunt  sylvae  et  victum  Didona  negavit." 

"  First  Ceres  taught  the  ground  with  grain  to  sow, 
And  armed  with  iron  shares  the  crooked  plough; 
When  new  Dodonian  oaks  no  moi-e  supplied 
Their  mast,  and  trees  their  forest  fruit  denied." 

"  That  this  urgent  necessity,  this  imperious  mistress,  which 
nature  caused  to  spring  from  their  mcreasing  numbers,  made  them 
spread  themselves  over  the  earth,  and  people  even  the  most 
rigorous  climates.  That  the  "  rigid  lore  "  of  the  "  stern  rugged 
nurse  "  thus  imposed  on  them,  though  harsh,  was  healthful ;  as  a 
proof  of  which  we  may  observe,  that  men  in  general  subsist  in 
greatest  comfort  and  abundance,  where  the  climate  is  most  for- 
bidding, and  the  soil  most  stubborn,   because  there,  that  they 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  35 

may  subsist  at  all,  they  have  been  obliged  to  call  to  their  succour 
the  most  ingenious  arts,  and  the  most  indefatigable  industry, 

"  Labor  omnia  vincit 
Improbus  et  duris  urgens  in  rebus  egestas." 

"  What  cannot  endless  labor  urged  by  need  ?  " 

That,  as  it  is  the  action  of  this  principle  which  has  given  rise  to 
all  the  arts,  so  it  is  it  which  has  brought  them  to  perfection. 
That,  while  a  territory  is  scantily  peopled,  and  its  inhabitants 
spread  over  it  at  a  great  distance  from  each  other,  they  can  never 
subdivide  themselves  into  different  trades  and  employments,  and 
each  devoting  himself  to  a  particular  busmess  and  art,  exercise 
his  whole  ingenuity  to  bring  that  particular  occupation  to  perfec- 
tion ;  and  that  hence  arts  are  in  general  in  the  most  flourishing 
condition,  w^here  the  population  is  the  most  dense. 

"  That  to  these  causes,  thus  necessarily  proceeding  from  this 
great  principle,  we  are  to  ascribe  in  particular  both  the  opulence 
and  prosperity  of  our  o\\ti  nation,  and  the  necessary  diffusion  of 
the  arts,  manners,  language,  and  race,  with  which  they  are  con- 
nected, and  in  which  they  are  embodied,  over  the  remotest 
regions  of  the  globe.  That  thus,  although  men  in  marrying  seek 
only  their  own  good,  they  nevertheless  adopt  that  course  which 
is  most  to  the  advantage  of  society ;  and  here  too,  as  in  many 
other  instances,  are  led  by  an  invisible  hand  to  promote  an  end 
which  was  no  part  of  their  intention.  That,  therefore,  as  the 
revenue  and  power  of  a  nation  can  only  increase  as  its  population 
increases,  and  as  the  increase  of  population  tends  to  give  a  begin- 
ning to  every  useful  art,  and  to  carry  it  to  the  highest  perfection, 
legislators  act  a  very  absurd  and  culpable  part  in  attempting,  in 
any  instance  to  restrain  it,  or  to  check  what  is  undoubtedly  the 
natural,  and  apparently  the  most  beneficial  course  of  events." 

Such  a  theory,  like  almost  every  other  view  of  only  one  side 
of  a  complicated  subject,  would  probably  be  partly  correct,  and 
partly  erroneous  ;  but  it  might  be  possible  to  embrace  in  it  a  great 
mass  of  facts,  and  perhaps  to  give  it  considerable  plausibility. 

In  examining  the  soundness  of  the  doctrine  founded  on  it,  it 
might  first  be  expedient  to  allow  the  assumptions  necessarily 
involved  in  it  to  pass  unnoticed,  and  to  test  its  accuracy  by  an 
application  to  facts.  Such  is  the  course  which  I  mean  to  follow 
in  this  introductory  examination  of  the  somewhat  similar  theory, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  which  is  the  groundwork  for  the  vast  and  varied 


36  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

accumulation  of  facts  and  opinions  embodied  in  the  Wealth  of 
Nations.  I  shall  allow  the  author's  assumptions  to  pass  unques- 
tioned in  all  cases  where  they  are  mixed  with  the  explanation  of 
real  events,  though  I  may  esteem  that  explanation  erroneous ; 
and  it  is  only  where,  alone  and  unconnected  with  facts,  they  are 
brought  forward  for  the  purpose  of  arguments  as  incontrovertible 
truths  in  order  to  establish  the  particular  doctrine  which  I  com- 
bat, that  I  will  feel  myself  called  on  to  expose  the  fallacies  into 
which  they  lead. 

The  celebrated  author  remarks,  "  that  it  is  from  his  labor  alone 
that  man  can  draw  the  necessaries,  the  conveniences,  the  amuse- 
ments of  human  life,  from  the  materials  which  nature  has  placed 
around  him.  As  the  amount  of  these  necessaries,  conveniences, 
and  amusements,  which  any  man  can  afford  to  enjoy,  constitutes 
his  riches ;  so  the  amount  of  them  which  all  the  men  in  the  nation 
can  enjoy  constitutes  the  national  riches.  Labor,  then,  being  the 
first  price,  the  original  purchase  money,  that  is  paid  for  all  things, 
an  inquiry  into  national  wealth  is,  in  fact,  an  inquiry  into  the 
means  by  which  the  labor  of  the  individuals  composing  a  nation 
may  produce,  from  the  materials  they  possess,  the  greatest  amount 
of  necessaries,  conveniences,  and  amusements. 

"  These  may  either  be  the  immediate  produce  of  that  labor, 
or  what  is  purchased  with  that  produce  from  other  nations. 
Hence  such  an  inquiry  may  be  divided  into  two  parts ;  the  first 
treating  of  the  means  by  which  the  produce  of  the  national  labor 
becomes  greatest ;  the  second,  of  the  manner  in  which  the  part 
transferred  to  other  nations  procures  from  them,  in  return,  the 
greatest  amount  of  necessaries,  conveniences,  and  amusements. 

"  First,  then,  may  be  considered  the  sources  of  wealth  that  lie 
altogether  within  the  society,  the  means  of  bringing,  by  the  labor 
of  its  members,  out  of  the  materials  which  it  possesses,  the 
greatest  amount  of  products ;  that  is,  of  articles  afibrding  neces- 
saries, conveniences,  or  amusements. 

"  This,  in  any  particular  nation,  must  be  regulated  by  two 
circumstances.  First,  by  the  skill,  dexterity,  and  judgment  with 
which  its  labor  is  generally  applied  ;  secondly,  by  the  proportion 
between  the  number  of  those  who  are  employed  in  useful  labor, 
and  that  of  those  who  are  not  so  employed."  It  is  to  the  first  of 
these  circumstances,  which  he  observes  is  of  much  the  greater 
influence,  that  our  au thorns  reasonings  chiefly  refer,  and  to  the 
consideration  of  it,  therefore,  we  may  altogether  confine  ourselves. 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL. 


37 


''  The  chief  cause  operatmg  on  this,  the  main  source  of  the 
productiveness  of  labor,  is  capital.  Without  capital,  industry 
could  scarce  at  all  exist.  While  a  man  is  executing  a  piece  of 
labor,  he  must  have,  to  maintain  him,  a  stock  of  goods,  and  he 
must  have  ready  provided  for  him  the  tools  and  materials  neces- 
sary for  performing  the  work.  These  are  all  procured  by  capital. 
A  weaver,  for  instance,  could  not  apply  himself  to  manufacture 
a  web  of  cloth,  unless  there  were  somewhere  stored  up  for  him 
a  supply  of  food,  and  other  necessaries,  sufficient  to  maintain  him 
till  he  complete  and  sell  it,  and  were  he  not  provided  beforehand 
with  a  loom  and  other  requisite  tools  and  materials.  It  is  capital 
which  provides  all  these,  either  his  own  or  that  of  some  other 
person. 

"  As  capital  is  thus  the  most  essential  element  in  setting  in- 
dustry in  motion,  so  it  is  by  the  amount  of  it,  that  the  produc- 
tiveness of  that  industry  is  chiefly  determined. 

"  Every  man  having  capital  naturally  endeavors  to  make  the 
most  of  it ;  that  is,  to  cause  the  labor  which  it  puts  in  motion  to 
yield  the  greatest  amount  of  productions.  This  he  effects  by  the 
division  of  that  labor ;  that  is,  by  separating  the  operations  it  has 
to  perform  into  as  many  distinct  parts  as  possible,  and  allotting 
each  of  them  to  one  man,  or  one  set  of  men,  as  a  peculiar  em- 
ployment. 

"  The  increase  arising  to  the  productive  powers  of  labor,  from 
this  division  of  it,  is  owing  to  three  different  circumstances. 
First,  to  the  increase  of  dexterity  in  every  particular  workman ; 
secondly,  to  the  saving  of  the  time  which  is  commonly  lost  in 
passing  from  one  species  of  work  to  another ;  lastly,  to  the  inven- 
tion of  a  great  number  of  machines  which  facilitate  and  abridge 
labor. 

"  First,  the  improvement  of  the  dexterity  of  the  workman 
necessarily  increases  the  quantity  of  the  work  he  can  perform ; 
and  the  division  of  labor,  by  reducing  every  man's  business  to 
some  one  simple  operation,  and  by  making  this  operation  the 
sole  employment  of  his  life,  necessarily  increases  by  much  the 
dexterity  of  the  workman.  A  common  smith,  for  instance,  will 
scarce  make  more  than  three  hundred  nails  a  day,  and  those  very 
bad  ones.  A  boy  who  has  devoted  himself  entirely  to  the  business 
of  making  nails,  can  make  upwards  of  two  thousand. 

"  Secondly,  time  is  not  wasted  in  passing  from  one  work  to 


38  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

another,  and  the  indolent  sauntering  hahits  induced  by  the  frequent 
change  of  employment  are  avoided. 

"  Thirdly,  the  invention  of  all  those  machines  by  which  labor 
is  so  much  facilitated  and  abridged  seems  to  have  been  originally 
owing  to  the  division  of  labor.  In  consequence  of  it,  the  whole 
of  every  man's  attention  comes  naturally  to  be  directed  to  some 
one  very  simple  object.  It  is  naturally  to  be  expected,  there- 
fore, that  some  one  or  other  of  those  who  are  employed  in  each 
particular  branch  of  labor  should  find  out  easier  and  readier 
methods  of  performing  their  own  particular  work,  wherever  the 
nature  of  it  admits  of  improvement.  In  this  mode  a  great  num- 
ber of  such  improvements  on  the  productive  power  of  labor  have 
been  made. 

"  The  other  improvements  in  machinery  and  manufactures  * 
have  been  also  owing  to  the  division  of  labor.     Many  of  them 
have  been  made    by    the  ingenuity   of  those,  who,    from    this 
separation  of  employments,  have  taken  up  the  trade  of  making 
such  machines  ;    others,  by  that  class  of  citizens  of  whom  also 
philosophy  or  speculation  becomes  the  sole  trade  and  occupation. 
"  The  perfection  to  which  this  division  of  labor  may  be  carried 
depends  on  the  amount  of  capital  that  sets  it  in  motion ;  because 
the  same  number  of  workmen,  executing  a  greater  quantity  of 
w^ork  in  proportion  as  they  are  better  classified  and  divided,  require 
consequently,  when  so  classified,  a  larger  stock  of  materials,  and 
the  extent  of  the  stock  of  materials  provided  must  be  regulated 
by  the  amount  of  capital  accumulated.     Again,  when  so  divided, 
they  both  require  and  cause  to  be  invented  many  new  machines. 
These  machines,  also,  can  only  be  procured  by  a  capital  pre- 
viously stored  up.     Not  only,  however,  does  the  accumulation  of 
capital,  by  providing  more  abundant  materials  and  better  machines, 
enable  the  same  number  of  workmen  to  be  better  divided,  and  to 
produce  more  work,  but  it  also  may  be  observed  that  the  number 
of  workmen  in  any  branch  of  business  increases  with  the  division 
of  labor  in   that  branch.     Thus  the  increased  accumulation  of 
capital,  by  effecting  a  more  and  more  extended  division  of  labor, 
not  only  increases  the  productiveness  of  the  labor  of  the  same 
number  of  workmen,  but  adds  to  that  number.     By  both  means, 
therefore,  it  greatly  augments  the  total  riches  of  the  society, 

*  I  add  this  word  because  the  chain  of  reasoning  seems  to  require  it. 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL,  39 

the  amount  of  necessaries,  conveniences,  and  amusements  pro- 
duced by  its  members,  and  consequently  enjoyed  by  them. 

'•'  Tiiese  productions  which  labor,  by  the  aid  of  capital,  effects 
have  to  be  transported  to  the  places  where  they  are  to  be  con- 
sumed, have  there  to  be  stored  up  till  they  may  be  wanted,  when 
they  have  to  be  divided  into  small  portions,  suited  to  the  con- 
venience of  the  persons  wdio  are  to  use  them.  The  dealers  in 
wholesale  and  retail  are  enabled  to  perform  these  useful  offices 
by  the  instmmentality  of  capital,  and  the  greater  the  amount  of 
that  capital  the  more  easily  and  effectually  they  can  perform 
them.  Hence,  every  addition  their  economy  makes  to  that 
amount,  tends  also  to  the  increase  of  the  general  prosperity. 

"  The  division  of  labor  is  limited  by  the  extent  of  the  market. 
Before  any  man,  or  any  set  of  men,  can  in  common  prudence 
devote  themselves  to  any  particular  employment,  they  must  be 
assured  that  they  can  dispose  of  the  commodity  which  their 
exertions  in  the  prosecution  of  that  employment  will  produce. 
In  situations  where  there  is  not  a  sufficient  number  of  customers 
near  at  hand  to  consume  the  manufactured  article,  or  where  it 
cannot  with  advantage  be  transported  to  those  at  a  distance,  the 
making  of  that  article  can  never  become  the  exclusive  employ- 
ment of  any  man,  or  set  of  men.  When,  therefore,  there  is  not 
a  sufficiently  extensive  market,  labor  cannot  be  so  much  subdi- 
vided as  it  otherwise  would,  and  its  productive  powers  are  cramped 
for  want  of  room  in  which  to  exert  themselves.  The  increase  of 
capital  extends  the  market  by  adding  to  the  numbers  and  general 
opulence  of  the  community,  and  by  facilitating  the  modes  of 
communication  between  all  parts  of  the  territories  which  it  pos- 
sesses, and  this  extending  market  gives,  in  turn,  additional  celerity 
to  the  increase  of  capital." 

To  this  accumulation  of  capital,  this  continual  parsimonious 
saving  out  of  revenue,  the  principle  that,  according  to  our  author, 
animates  the  whole  progressive  movement  of  the  society,  he 
assigns  the  following  limit. 

"  When  the  stocks  of  many  rich  merchants  are  turned  into  the 
same  trade,  their  mutual  competition  naturally  tends  to  lower  its 
profit ;  and,  when  there  is  a  like  increase  of  stock  in  all  the  dif- 
ferent trades  carried  on  in  the  same  society,  the  same  competition 
must  produce  the  same  effect  on  them  all.  As,  then,  the  profits 
of  capital  continually  lower  with  its  augmentation,  there  must 


40  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

arrive  a  period  when  they  will  be  so  diminished  as  to  render  it 
no  longer  possible  to  save  any  part  of  them."  When  this  period 
arrives,  the  country  would  then,  I  think,  according  to  our  author, 
have  acquired  its  fliU  complement  of  riches  ;  every  branch  of 
business  therein  having  the  greatest  quantity  of  capital  that  could 
be  employed  in  it. 

"  But  besides  the  immediate  produce  of  its  own  industry,  a 
country  that  has  made  any  progress  in  the  accumulation  of  capital, 
and  consequent  division  of  labor,  and  facility  of  production,  comes 
to  furnish  other  countries  with  many  articles,  and,  in  exchange, 
to  receive  from  them  many  other  articles.  This  forms  another 
source  from  whence  the  necessaries,  conveniences,  and  amuse- 
ments of  nations  may  be  supplied.  A  country  is  enabled  to  do 
this  from  two  causes.  The  soil,  climate,  and  natural  productions 
of  countries  are  various.  Hence  one  country  has  generally 
peculiar  advantages  over  others  in  manufacturing  certain  articles. 
Again,  one  country  exceeds  another  in  the  amount  of  capital  it 
possesses,  and  consequently  in  the  skill  with  which  its  industry 
is  applied ;  hence,  also,  there  are  articles  which  it  can  produce 
in  greater  perfection  than  other  countries,  with  greater  facility,  or 
both. 

"  This  is  the  origin,  and  these  are  the  advantages,  of  foreign 
trade.  By  means  of  it  two  or  more  nations  are  enabled  to  ex- 
change with  one  another  what  would  otherwise  have  been  to 
each  superfluous  for  what,  through  these  exchanges,  procures  to 
each  an  additional  amount  of  the  necessaries,  conveniences,  and 
amusements  of  hfe. 

"  It  is  capital  which  enables  them  to  effect  these  beneficial 
exchanges,  and  the  amount  of  them  must  be  limited  by  the 
amount  of  capital  that  can  be  embarked  in  the  employment." 
What  quantity  of  capital  this  employment  may  absorb,  what 
quantity  of  productions  may  thus  be  exchanged  between  different 
countries,  is  a  problem  which  our  author  has  not,  as  far  as  I  per- 
ceive, given  us  certain  data  for  solving.  Some  of  his  followers 
think  it  illimitable,  but  it  is  clear  that  this  was  not  his  opinion, 
and  that,  though  he  did  not  assign  the  limits,  he  nevertheless 
believed  there  were  limits  to  it.  Accordingly  he  makes  another 
channel,  through  which,  when  these  are  filled,  it  may  flow, 
gathering  still  volume  to  itself,  and  adding  to  the  national  pros- 
perity as  it  proceeds. 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  41 

"  This  is  what  is  called  the  carrying  trade,  the  carrying  the 
surplus  produce  of  one  nation  to  another.  Two  countries  may 
have  products  which  it  would  be  advantageous  for  them  to  ex- 
change, but  they  may  not  have  capital  sufficient  to  provide  the 
means  necessary  for  effecting  this  exchange.  In  such  case,  an- 
other nation  having  a  superabundant  capital  may  embark  part  of 
it  in  performing  this  office  for  them,  and  into  this  employment  a 
country  so  circumstanced  naturally  directs  such  a  capital.  When 
the  capital  stock  of  any  country  is  increased  in  such  a  degree, 
that  it  cannot  be  all  employed  in  supplying  the  consumption,  and 
supporting  the  productive  labor  of  that  particular  country,  the 
surplus  part  of  it  naturally  disgorges  itself  into  the  carrying 
trade,  and  is  employed  in  performing  the  same  offices  to  other 
countries."* 

It  may  be  observed,  however,  with  regard  to  this  last  em- 
ployment, which  our  author  assigns  to  capital,  that  it  implies  a 
superiority  in  the  progress  of  the  productive  industry  of  the 
country  enjoying  the  trade,  which  cannot  be  calculated  on  be- 
forehand. A  nation  can  only  possess  a  carrying  trade,  from  other 
nations  wanting  foreign  trade.  Though  it  may,  therefore,  form 
a  source  of  gain  to  a  particular  nation,  it  seems  not  so  properly 
to  be  reckoned  among  the  causes  of  the  wealth  of  nations  ;  for, 
with  the  general  progress  of  that  wealth,  according  to  the  theory 
of  our  author,  it  would  decay. 

The  ingenious  theory,  of  the  main  elements  of  which,  I  have 
thus  attempted  to  delineate  the  outlines,  its  eminent  author  has 
illustrated  with  a  felicity  of  observation,  and  laboriousness  of  re- 
search, which  it  were  as  vain  to  attempt  to  depreciate,  as  super- 
fluous to  praise.  He  conceives  that  it  establishes  the  following 
conclusions. 

"  The  natural  effort  of  every  individual  to  better  his  own  con- 
dition, when  suffered  to  exert  itself  with  freedom  and  security,  is 
so  powerful  a  principle,  that  it  is  alone,  and  without  any  assist- 
ance, not  only  capable  of  carrying  on  the  society  to  wealth  and 
prosperity,  but  of  surmounting  a  hundred  impertinent  obstruc- 
tions with  which  the  folly  of  human  laws  too  often  encumbers  its 
operations  ;  though  the  effect  of  these  obstructions  is  always, 
more  or  less,  either  to  encroach  upon  its  freedom  or  to  diminish 
its  security. "f  That  "  every  system  which  endeavors,  either, 
»  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  II.  c.  V.  i  B.  IV.  c.  V. 

6 


42  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

by  extraordinary"  encouragements  to  draw  towards  a  particular 
species  of  industry  a  greater  share  of  the  capital  of  the  society, 
than  what  would  naturally  go  to  it,  or,  by  extraordinary  restraints, 
to  force  from  a  particular  species  of  industry  some  share  of  the 
capital  which  would  otherwise  be  employed  in  it,  is,  in  reality, 
subversive  of  the  great  purpose  which  it  means  to  promote.  It 
retards  instead  of  accelerating,  the  progress  of  the  society  towards 
wealth  and  greatness  ;  and  diminishes,  instead  of  increasing,  the 
real  value  of  the  annual  produce  of  its  land  and  labor."  And 
therefore,  that  "  all  systems,  either  of  preference  or  restraint, 
being  completely  taken  away,  the  obvious  and  simple  system  of 
natural  liberty  establishes  itself  of  its  own  accord.  Every  man, 
as  long  as  he  does  not  violate  the  laws  of  justice,  is  left  perfectly 
free  to  pursue  his  own  interest  his  own  way,  and  to  bring  both 
his  industry  and  capital  into  competition  with  those  of  any  other 
man,  or  order  of  men.  The  sovereign  is  completely  discharged 
from  a  duty,  in  attempting  to  perform  which  he  must  always  be 
exposed  to  innumerable  delusions,  and  for  the  proper  perfol'mance 
of  which  no  human  wisdom  or  knowledge  could  ever  be  suffi- 
cient ;  the  duty  of  superintending  the  industry  of  private  people, 
and  of  directing  it  towards  the  employments  most  suitable  to  the 
interest  of  the  society."  * 

I  expect  in  the  sequel  to  show  that  the  system  contains  certain 
fundamental  errors  invalidating  very  many  of  the  conclusions, 
which  the  author  desires  to  establish.  In  the  mean  time, 
passing  all  such  discussions,  and  viewing  the  subject  in  some- 
thing of  the  light  in  which  it  seems  to  have  been  contempla- 
ted by  Adam  Smith  himself,  I  would  observe,  that  his  system, 
if  correct,  must  be  consistent  with  itself,  and  with  admitted 
facts.  His  theory  pretends  to  show,  that  the  source  of  the 
wealth  of  nations,  the  abundance,  that  is,  of  all  the  materials 
of  comfort  and  enjoyment,  the  necessaries,  the  conveniences, 
the  amusements  of  life  which  men  possess,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  gradual  accumulation  of  capital  by  the  undisturbed  industry 
and  economy  of  individuals,  continually,  through  the  division  of 
labor,  introducing  improvements  in  the  modes  in  which  this  labor 
operates  with  that  capital,  and,  consequently,  increasing  with  the 
greatest  possible  rapidity  the  returns  from  them.    His  doctrine  is, 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  IV.  c.  IX. 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  43 

that  the  accumulation  of  capital  by  individuals,  being  thus  the 
only  tiling  required  to  produce  that  abundance  with  the  greatest 
possible  rapidity,  ought  never  to  be  interfered  with  by  the 
legislature  ;  and  that,  if  he  does  so,  it  must  necessarily  be  to  the 
detriment  of  the  society  for  which  he  legislates.  If,  therefore, 
even  according  to  him,  there  are  other  sources,  than  the  mere 
accumulation  of  capital,  and  consequent  division  of  labor,  on 
which  nations  are  dependent  for  turning  their  labor  and  capital 
to  the  best  account,  and  thus  drawing  from  their  resources  the 
most  abundant  returns  of  necessaries,  conveniences,  and  amuse- 
ments, that  is  of  wealth  ;  in  so  far,  his  theory  would  seem  im- 
perfect, and  his  doctrine  inapplicable.  If  we  then  in  particular 
turn  to  the  part  of  the  system  with  which  we  are  specially 
interested,  we  find,  in  reality,  that  as  far  as  it  is  concerned,  the 
theory  is  thus  inconsistent  with  events  admitted  by  its  author, 
that  hence  this  portion  of  it  is  contradictory  to  itself,  and  to 
admitted  phenomena,  and  that  consequently  the  doctrine  drawn 
from  it  cannot  here  be  maintained. 

In  the  account  of  the  progress  of  opulence,  given  in  the  Wealth 
of  Nations,  we  find  assigned,  as  one  of  the  causes  of  it,  the  intro- 
duction into  a  country  of  new  manufactures.  "  According  to  the 
natural  course  of  things,"  we  are  told,  "  the  greater  part  of  the 
wealth  of  any  growing  society  is  first  directed  to  agriculture, 
afterwards  to  manufactures,  and  last  of  all  to  foreign  commerce."* 
"  After  agriculture,  the  capital  employed  in  manufactures  puts 
into  motion  the  greatest  quantity  of  productive  labor."  f  The 
utility  of  such  manufactures  is  enlarged  on  in  many  parts  of  the 
work.  "  They  give  a  new  value  to  the  surplus  part  of  the  rude 
produce  by  saving  the  expense  of  carrying  it  to  the  water  side, 
or  to  some  distant  market,  and  they  furnish  cultivators  with 
something  in  exchange  for  it,  that  is  either  useful  or  agreeable  to 
them,  upon  easier  terms  than  they  could  have  obtained  it  before. 
The  cultivators  get  a  better  price  for  their  surplus  produce,  and 
can  purchase  cheaper  other  conveniences  which  they  have  occa- 
sion for.  They  are  thus  encouraged  and  enabled  to  increase 
this  surplus  produce  by  a  farther  improvement  and  better  cultiva- 
tion of  the  land  ;  and  as  the  fertility  of  the  land  had  given  birth 
to  the  manufacture,  so  the  progress  of  the  manufacture  reacts 
upon  the  land,  and  increases  still  farther  its  fertility.     The  manu- 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  III.  c.  IX.  \  B.  II.  c.  V. 


44  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

facturers  first  supply  the  neighborhood,  and,  as  their  work  im- 
proves and  refines,  more  distant  markets.  For  though  neither 
the  rude  produce  nor  even  the  coarse  manufacture  could,  without 
the  greatest  difficulty,  support  the  expense  of  a  considerable  land 
carriage,  the  refined  and  improved  manufacture  easily  may.  In 
a  small  bulk  it  frequently  contains  the  price  of  a  great  quantity  of 
rude  produce."  *  "  The  revenue  of  a  trading  and  manufacturing 
country  must,  other  tilings  being  equal,  always  be  much  greater 
than  that  of  one  without  trade  or  manufactures.  By  means  of 
trade  and  manufactures  a  greater  quantity  of  subsistence  can  be 
annually  imported  into  a  country  than  what  its  own  lands,  in  the 
actual  state  of  their  cultivation,  could  afford.  The  inhabitants  of 
a  town,  though  they  frequently  possess  no  lands  of  their  own, 
yet  draw  to  themselves,  by  their  industry,  such  a  quantity  of  the 
rude  produce  of  the  lands  of  other  people  as  supply  them,  not 
only  with  the  materials  of  their  work,  but  with  the  fund  of  their 
_  subsistence.  What  a  town  always  is  in  regard  to  the  country  in 
its  neighborhood,  one  independent  state  or  country  may  fre- 
quently be  with  legard  to  other  independent  states  or  countries.f 
Commerce  and  manufactures  gradually  introduced  order  and 
good  governmicnt "  (into  Europe)  "  and  with  them  the  liberty 
and  security  of  individuals,  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  country 
who  had  before  lived  almost  in  a  continual  state  of  war  with  their 
neighbors,  and  of  servile  dependency  upon  their  superiors.;]; 

"  No  foreign  war,  of  great  expense  or  duration,  could  con- 
veniently be  carried  on  by  the  exportation  of  the  rude  produce 
of  the  soil.  The  expense  of  sending  such  a  quantity  of  it  to  a 
foreign  country  as  might  purchase  the  pay  and  provisions  of  an 
army  would  be  too  great.  Few  countries,  too,  produce  much 
more  produce  than  what  is  sufficient  for  the  subsistence  of  their 
own  inhabitants.  To  send  abroad  any  great  quantity  of  it,  there- 
fore, would  be  to  send  abroad  a  part  of  the  necessary  subsistence 
of  the  people.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  exportation  of  manufac- 
tures. The  maintenance  of  the  people  employed  in  them  is  kept 
at  home,  and  only  the  surplus  part  of  their  work  is  exported. 
Among  nations  to  whom  commerce  and  manultictures  are  little 
known,  the  sovereign,  upon  extraordinary  occasions,  can  seldom 
draw  any  considerable  aid  from  his  subjects.^     In  modern  war 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  III.  c.  III.  t  B.  III.  c.  IV. 

t  B.  IV.  c.  IX.  §  B.  IV.  c.  I. 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  45 

the  great  expense  of  fire  arms  gives  an  evident  advantage  to  the 
nation  which  can  best  afford  that  expense  ;  and,  consequently, 
to  an  opulent  and  civilized  over  a  poor  and  barbarous  nation." 

According  to  our  author,  some  of  these  manufactures  proceed 
from  the  original  rude  arts  of  the  country  cultivated  and  refined 
by  the  gradual  progress  of  capital  and  of  the  division  of  labor  ; 
others  are  introduced  from  foreiirn  states.  This  transfer  takes 
place  in  the  following  manner.  Trade  first,  by  degrees,  intro- 
duces a  taste  for  the  foreign  manufacture  ;  the  demand  for  it 
increases  with  time  and  the  opulence  of  the  society.  But  when 
this  trade  has  become  so  general  as  to  occasion  an  exiensive 
consumption,  the  merchants  of  the  country,  to  save  the  expense 
attending  the  transport  of  the  article  from  a  foreign  country, 
introduce  the  manufacture  of  it  at  home. 

In  some  cases,  then,  the  increase  of  capital,  arising  from  the 
accumulation  of  individuals,  and  division  of  labor  thence  arising, 
is  not,  it  would  appear,  sufficient  alone  to  account  for  the  progress 
of  improvement,  and  consequent  production  of  fresh  funds  out  of 
which  wealth  may  grow.  For,  in  cases  where  the  raw  materials 
exist,  and  capital  to  divide  labor  and  put  it  in  motion  also  exists, 
these  are  sometimes  confessedly  dependent  on  the  importation  of 
new  arts  from  other  countries,  for  the  means  of  beino;  advantao-e- 
ously  directed.  These  admitted  facts  are  certainly  not  in  ac- 
cordance with  our  author's  theory.  Passing,  however,  the  con- 
sideration of  this  at  present,  I  should  wish  to  direct  the  reader's 
attention  to  the  application  of  his  peculiar  doctrines  to  events  of 
this  class  ;  and,  that  I  may  do  so,  it  is  necessary  to  examine  them 
with  somewhat  more  attention. 

When  goods  are  transported  from  a  distance,  a  great  part  of 
their  price  is  made  up  of  the  expense,  attending  the  transport. 
This  arises  not  merely  from  the  simple  expense  of  carriage,  but 
from  the  risk  attending  it,  from  the  perils  of  land  and  water,  and 
the  carelessness  or  knavery  of  those  who  are  entrusted  with  it ; 
from  the  profits  which  the  different  capitalists,  through  whom  they 
may  be  transferred,  exact,  and  from  the  damage  to  which  com- 
modities are  subject  by  being  long  kept  on  hand.  The  price  of 
very  many  commodities  transported  from  one  country  to  another 
is  doubled  by  the  influence  of  these  causes  ;  not  a  few  of  them 
derive  more  than  three  fourths  of  their  value  from  them. 

Hence  the  transfer  of  the  manufacture  of  such  goods  to  the 


46  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

countries  to  which,  when  manufactured,  they  were  before  sent, 
is  very  highly  advantageous  to  those  countries.  It  is  advantage- 
ous from  the  saving  to  the  national  income  which  it  effects  by 
doing  away  with  the  expense  of  transport ;  from  furnishing, 
according  to  our  author,  a  new  and  more  profitable  employment 
for  capital  ;  and  from  the  general  effects  it  produces  on  the 
national  prosperity,  as  exemplified  by  him  in  the  passages  I  have 
quoted.  It  must  be  allowed,  however,  that  this  introduction  of 
such  manufactures,  by  the  violent  operation,  as  he  terms  it,  of 
the  stocks  of  particular  merchants  and  undertakers,  who  establish 
them  in  imitation  of  some  foreign  manufactures  of  the  same  kind, 
is  a  matter  of  great  difficulty. 

For,  in  the  first  place,  the  materials  which  the  home  supply 
affords  will,  in  all  probability,  be  not  altogether  similar  to  those 
that  are  used  for  the  same  purpose  in  the  foreign  country.  Some 
may  be  better,  some  worse  adapted  to  the  purpose,  but  they  can 
scarcely  be  altogether  alike.  They  must  vary,  too,  in  their 
price,  some  being  cheaper,  some  dearer,  than  in  the  country  from 
whence  the  manufacture  is  broug-ht. 

The  greater  part  of  manufactures  are  also  influenced  by  the 
climate.  The  dryness  or  moisture  of  the  atmosphere,  the  de- 
grees of  heat  and  cold,  the  brightness  of  the  sky  and  consequent 
intensity  of  the  light,  are  circumstances  which  all,  more  or  less, 
affect  many  manufactures. 

The  proportion  between  the  rates  of  wages  and  profits  of 
stock  is  also  very  different  in  different  countries,  and  it  consider- 
ably influences  the  determination  of  what  may  be  the  most  ad- 
vantageous mode  of  conducting  any  process  in  any  country. 

When  the  discovery  of  that  exact  mode  of  procedure,  which 
the  relations  and  connexions  that  these  new  circumstances  have 
to  each  other  renders  most  expedient,  has  once  been  made,  it 
may  be  found  that  they  are  on  the  whole  more  favorable,  and 
such  as  will  produce  a  better  article,  at  less  cost,  in  the  country 
to  which  the  manufacture  is  transported,  than  in  that  in  which  it 
was  originally  exercised.  To  make  the  discovery,  however,  of 
this  exact  procedure  is  always  a  matter  of  difficulty,  and  implies 
almost  necessarily  the  previous  commission  of  many  errors  and 
mistakes,  and  the  incurring  of  much  needless  expense  and  loss. 
A  single  individual,  whatever  intelligence  and  application  he  may 
possess,  can  scarce  hope  to  arrive  at  it ;  it  requires  the  efforts  of 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  47 

many  individuals,  continued  through  a  considerable  course  of 

time. 

But  these  modifications,  in  the  process  of  any  manufac- 
ture, which  its  removal  from  one  country  to  another  demands, 
are  far  from  being  the  only  difficulty  attending  that  removal. 
An  accurate  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  the  manufacture,  and 
of  the  manner  in  which  every  part  of  it  is  carried  on  in  the 
foreign  country,  must  be  obtained  ;  the  requisite  machinery  has 
to  be  provided,  and  workmen,  possessing  the  skill  and  dexterity 
which  each  part  of  the  process  requires,  must  be  procured.  These 
are  generally  matters  of  great  difficulty. 

Very  few  individuals  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  every 
different  part  of  any  complicated  manufacture.     In  examining 
any  large  and  successful  manufacturing  establishment,  we  com- 
monly find  that  the  various  parts  of  it  depend,  for  the  perfection 
with  which  they  are  conducted,  on  the  efforts  of  different  indi- 
viduals, who  devote  their  whole  attention  to  their  own  depart- 
ments, and  are  not  at  all  qualified  to  change  places  with  each 
other  ;  while  the  director  of  the  whole  has  only  such  a  general 
knowledge  of  each  as  enables  him  to  say  when  it  is  properly  con- 
ducted, not  himself  to  point  out  the  exact  mode  of  best  conducting 
it.     It  is  his  business  to  preserve  the  economy  of  the  whole,  and 
to  search  out  the  individuals  best  fitted  for  carrying  on  every  part. 
Hence  the  undertaker  of  any  such  work,  in  a  country  where  it 
has  not  been  practised,  has  not  only  to  engage  one,  but  generally 
many  individuals,  in  order  that  the  different  processes  of  the 
manufacture    may  be  properly  conducted.      The    difficulty  of 
finding  persons   of  sufficient  intelligence   and   integrity  for  the 
purpose,  who  will  remove  to  a  distant  country,  without  an  ex- 
travagant reward,  is  very  great,  and  the  risk  of  being  imposed  on 
by  engaging  persons  of  insufficient  skill,  and  consequently  suffer- 
ing considerable  loss,  is  not  small.     The  difficulty  of  transporting, 
or  of  constructing  there,  the  necessary  machinery,  is  often  still 
greater ;    and  when  these   are   procured,  workmen    having  the 
requisite  skill  and  dexterity  for  performing  the  mere  manual  part 
are  still  wanting.     These,  if  brought  from  a  foreign  country,  as 
is  often  necessary,  can  only  be  induced  to  expatriate  themselves 
by  the  receipt  of  exorbitant  wages  ;   and,  even  if  the  natives  of 
the  country  where  the  new  manufacture  is  to  be  established  can 
be  trained  from  .the  first  to  execute  the  necessary  manual  opera- 


48  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

tions,  besides  the  loss  arising  from  their  deficient  dexterity,  they 
will  demand  higher  wages  than  those  engaged  in  established 
employments.  A  man  naturally  prefers  continuing  in  any  sort 
of  work  which  he  understands,  rather  than  displaying  his  awk- 
wardness in  attempting  to  perform  an  operation  that  is  strange  to 
him.  Besides,  he  has,  in  general,  reason  to  apprehend  that, 
should  the  new  manufacture  fail,  he  will  have  difficulty  in  again 
finding  employment  in  the  trade  he  had  forsaken.  On  these 
accounts  it  happens  that  "  when  a  projector  attempts  to  establish 
a  new  manufacture,  he  must  at  first  entice  his  workmen  from 
other  employments  by  higher  wages  than  they  can  either  earn 
in  their  own  trades,  or  than  the  nature  of  his  work  would  other- 
wise require  ;  and  a  considerable  time  must  pass  away  before  he 
can  venture  to  reduce  them  to  the  common  level."* 

All  these  circumstances  create  so  many  obstacles  to  the  efforts 
of  private  individuals,  in  their  endeavors  to  carry  a  manufacture 
from  a  country  in  which  it  already  prospers,  to  another  in  which 
it  is  unknown,  that  it  is,  I  believe,  very  rarely  they  have  suc- 
ceeded in  doing  so,  without  the  occurrence  of  some  favorable 
conjuncture  of  events,  to  aid  them  in  the  project. 

In  point  of  fact  it  will  be  found,  that  the  transfer  of  manufac- 
tures from  one  nation  to  another,  or  rather  the  general  propa- 
gation, through  all  countries,  of  this  most  important  source  of 
the  opulence  of  every  one,  has  been  chiefly  owing  to  causes, 
which,  at  first  sight,  would  seem  little  calculated  to  produce  so 
beneficial  effects.  Wars  and  conquests,  —  tyranny  and  persecu- 
tion, —  the  jealousy  and  hatred  of  rival  states,  have,  strange  to 
say,  been  the  main  agents  in  disseminating  arts  and  industry  over 
the  globe,  and  thus  ameliorating  the  social  condition  of  the  whole 
human  race.  Events,  that,  to  those  to  whom  they  happened, 
brought  nothing  but  calamity  and  suffering,  have  procured  pros- 
perity and  opulence  to  the  generations  that  have  succeeded 
them  ;  convulsions,  that  disturb  and  derange  the  frame  of  civil 
society,  like  those  which  occasionally  shake  and  desolate  the  globe, 
in  the  midst  of  present  destruction  and  devastation,  carrying  often 
the  elements  of  future  fertility  and  abundance. 

Manufactures  have  commonly  been  carried  to  a  distance  by 
the  men  who  have  exercised  those  manufactures.     But  no  one 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  I.   c.  X. 


ARE  NOT  IDEiNTICAL.  49 

willingly  expatriates  himself.  They  even,  who  would  seem  to 
have  least  to  attach  them  to  their  native  soil,  the  poor  mechanic, 
and  drudging  lahorer,  cling  to  it  with  the  greatest  tenacity,  and 
generally  quit  it  not,  unless  forced  from  it  by  inevitable  necessity 
or  by  the  continued  pressure  of  some  heavy  evil.  In  this 
way  the  ills,  that  the  tyranny  of  despots,  or  civil  and  religious 
factions,  or  war,  or  famine,  brings  upon  communities,  have  often 
compelled  great  numbers  of  their  most  industrious  citizens,  to 
abandon  their  homes,  and  seek  refuge  in  foreign  countries.  These 
emigrations  have  been  powerfully  instrumental  in  improving  the 
arts  of  civilized  life  and  difRising  a  knowledge  of  them  over  the 
earth.  Perhaps  few  arts  would  have  much  passed  the  naiTow 
limits  to  which  their  first  discovery  confined  them,  had  not  com- 
munities been  subject  to  be  torn  in  pieces,  and  scattered  abroad, 
by  the  violence  of  the  events  to  v;hich  we  allude.  They  have 
been  taking  place  in  every  age  since  the  world  began,  and  have 
been,  every  now  and  then,  forcing  large  bands  of  men  to  quit 
their  native  homes  and  seek  refuge  in  foreign  countries.  When- 
ever  such  emigrations  occur,  they  carry  the  knowledge  and  skill 
of  the  countries  they  leave,  into  those  in  which  they  settle,  and 
diffuse  them  over  them  ;  by  bringing  together  the  different  arts  of 
different  countries,  they  enable  one  to  borrow  from  the  other,  and 
raise  all  nearer  to  perfection ;  and,  by  giving  opportunity  to  them 
to  unite  with  one  another,  from  that  union,  they  occasionally 
produce  some  that  did  not  before  exist.  In  all  these  modes, 
they  have  promoted  very  greatly  the  progress  of  human  im- 
provement. The  influence  of  these  causes,  though  more  powerful 
in  remote  ages  than  in  the  present  times,  has  not  yet  ceased.  It  is 
shown  in  events  of  very  recent  date  or  actual  progress.  To 
it  we  chiefly  ovre  the  origin  of  tliose  flourishing  states,  which 
the  European  race  have  raised  up  in  North  America  ;  and  the 
rapid  progress  over  the  Western  Hemisphere,  of  every  improve- 
ment that  art  or  science  effects  in  the  Eastern. 

Besides  the  direct  agency  which  these  outbreakings  of  the 
violent  passions  of  mankind,  by  disturbing  and  deranging  the 
smooth  and  uniform  course  of  human  existence,  have  had  in 
casting  it  into  new  and  often  improved  forms,  they  have  produced 
similar  effects  in  a  manner  less  conspicuous  and  evident.  Com- 
merce introduces  a  taste  for  the  productions  of  the  arts  of  one 
country  into  others,  which  are  remote  from  it.   These  productions, 

7 


50  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

at  first  regarded  as  mere  superfluities  or  luxuries,  pass,  in  time 
and  from  habit,  into  things  essential  to  the  comfort,  almost  to  the 
existence,  of  those  who  have  become  accustomed  to  tlieir  use. 
War  interrupts  this  commerce  and  thus  cuts  off  the  supply  that 
it  afforded  of  such  articles.  Excited  by  the  rewards  offered  by 
the  eagerness  of  a  demand  that  cannot  be  supplied  from  abroad, 
the  domestic  industry  of  the  country  then  exerts  itself,  first,  to 
produce  rude  imitations  of  the  foreign  commodity,  and  at  length, 
rival  manufactures.  This  is  a  cause  which  has  extensively  op- 
erated in  modern  times,  in  spreading  manufactures  from  country 
to  country.  It  is  to  the  wars  springing  out  of  the  French  rev- 
olution, and  the  interruption  to  European  commerce  that  they 
occasioned,  that  the  first  rise  of  many  manufactures  in  different 
parts  of  the  old  and  new  world,  which  are  now  in  a  very  prosperous 
condition,  is  to  be  traced. 

But  besides  the  influence  which  the  violent  operation  of  for- 
eign wars,  and  intestine  commotions,  has  had  in  promoting  the 
propagation  of  arts  over  the  world,  many  of  them  vmquestionably 
have  been  encouraged  and  enabled  to  extend  themselves  to,  and 
take  root  in,  countries  rem^ote  from  the  seats  where  they  originally 
flourished,  by  the  direct  efforts  of  the  legislators  of  such  coun- 
tries, to  draw  them  there,  to  cherish  their  first  feeble  advances, 
and  to  promote  their  subsequent  growth  and  vigor.  There  are 
very  few  productions  of  modern  art,  that  do  not  stand  indebted 
to  the  legislators  of  the  countries  in  which  they  are  manufactured, 
for  their  advancement  and  perfection. 

These  three  causes  have,  generally,  more  or  less  cooperated 
with  each  other  in  the  extension  and  advancement  of  every 
branch  of  art.  The  cases  where  the  efforts  of  private  individ- 
uals, unaided  by  one  or  all  of  them,  have  been  successful  in 
transferring  any  manufacture  to  a  distant  country,  are,  as  I  have 
already  observed,  exceedingly  rare. 

In  accordance  with  the  doctrine  which  he  supports  throughout, 
it  is  here  maintained  by  our  author  that  the  last  of  these  causes 
operating  in  the  production  of  new  arts,  or  in  their  introduction 
into  a  country,  the  interference,  viz.  of  the  legislator,  is  improper, 
because  necessarily  injurious  ;  and  that  his  agency,  so  directed, 
always,  and  from  its  very  nature,  instead  of  promoting  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  general  opulence  and  prosperity,  operates  in  a 
manner  prejudicial  to  both.     Allowing  that  this  introduction  of 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  5J 

new  arts  and  manufactures  from  foreign  states  is,  in  itself,  bene- 
ficial, in  so  much  that  he  assigns  it,  as  we  have  seen,  as  one  of 
the  causes  of  countries  becoming  wealthy  and  prosperous  ;  he 
maintains,  that  this  particular  mode  of  introducing  them  is  neces- 
sarily injurious.  We  have  then  to  inquire,  if  there  are  any  other 
means  by  which,  according  to  his  principles,  this  acknowledged 
most  beneficial  result  can  be  brought  about. 

The  violent  operation  of  foreign  wars  or  domestic  disturbances, 
will  scarce,  I  think,  be  said  to  be  more  advantageous  methods  of 
effecting  this  purpose,  than  the  restrictions  and  bounties  of  the 
legislator.  At  all  events  such  causes  are  continually  diminishing 
in  their  frequency  and  the  vigour  of  their  operations,  and  be- 
coming more  and  more  beyond  the  reach  of  our  calculations. 
For  spreading  the  useful  arts  from  people  to  people,  this 
element  confessedly  of  very  great  importance  in  the  advance  of 
the  general  welfare  of  mankind,  there  remains  then,  according 
to  these  principles,  but  the  unaided  efforts  of  private  individuals 
alone. 

It  must  be  kept  in  mind,  that,  by  the  efforts  of  individuals,  are 
meant,  according  to  our  author,  their  endeavors  to  better  their 
condition  ;  that  is,  as  he  defines  it,  to  increase  their  fortunes. 
But,  in  order  to  add  to  his  fortune,  one  must  get  more  than  he 
gives.  No  such  efforts  can  ever  lead  any  individual  to  embark 
in  a  project  that  will  probably  take  more  from  him,  than  it  will 
return  to  him.  Now,  to  transfer  a  manufacture  from  one  country 
to  another,  must  always  be  a  very  tedious  and  expensive  opera- 
tion, for  any  individual  to  perform.  The  consideration  of  his 
own  profit,  the  sole  motive  according  to  our  author,  which  deter- 
mines the  o\^^ler  of  a  capital  to  employ  it  in  any  undertaking, 
would  never  lead  one,  to  engage  in  the  enterprise  of  establishing 
a  new  manufacture  in  any  country  unless  of  such  commodities  as 
were  of  common  consumption  in  it,  and  which  he  could  therefore 
be  sure  to  sell.  Those  commodities  being  of  common  consump- 
tion, and  not  produced  within  the  country,  must  at  the  time 
be  furnished  by  some  foreign  state,  and,  consequently,  to  procure 
their  sale,  he  must  be  able  to  supply  them,  at  as  cheap  a  rate  as 
that  state.  The  effecting  this,  for  reasons  I  have  stated,  would 
generally  take  more  time  and  money,  than  any  private  individual 
can  afford.  But,  granting  that  the  funds  of  some  private  individ- 
uals could  afford  this  requisite  outlay,  and  that  they  should  sue- 


52  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

ceed  in  bringing  the  manufacture  to  such  perfection  as  to  enable 
them  to  sell  the  commodity  on  terms  equal  to  those  of  the  foreign 
merchant,  or  lower  than  his,  the  more  difficult  question  is,  how  is 
this  great  outlay  to  be  reimbursed  ?  A  great  part  of  an  individ- 
ual's capital  has  been  expended.  This  expenditure  can,  evidently, 
be  reimbursed  to  him  only  by  his  drawing  proportionally  larger 
profits,  than  he  otherwise  could,  from  what  remains.  To  balance 
the  extraordinary  outlay,  he  must  have  extraordmary  returns. 

But  profits  far  exceeding  the  usual  rate  of  profit  can  scarcely 
ever  be  drawn,  for  any  time  from,  any  employment.  "  If,  in 
the  same  neighborhood,  there  was  any  employment  evidently 
more  advantageous  than  the  rest,  so  many  people  would 
crowd  into  it,  that  its  advantages  would  soon  return  into  the 
level  of  other  employments."*  It  is  no  doubt  true,  that  the 
proprietor  of  such  new  manufacture  might,  sometimes,  not  only 
succeed  in  establishing  it,  but  in  keeping  secret  the  great  profits 
he  made  from  it,  for  a  considerable  period.  This  is  a  piece  of 
good  fortune,  however,  which,  though  it  might  sometimes  befall 
an  individual,  he  could  never  beforehand  fairly  calculate  on.  It 
is  much  more  probable  that  his  success  would  be  blazoned  abroad 
and  exaggerated,  that  several  projectors  w^ould  establish  themselves 
beside  him,  and,  by  bribing  his  workinen  with  somewhat  higher 
wages,  with  comparative  ease,  succeed  in  depriving  him  of  the 
profits  he  might  otherwise  have  drawn  from  his  extraordinary 
outlay  of  labor  and  capital.f  It  may,  therefore,  I  think,  be  safely 
laid  down  as  a  principle,  that,  in  all  ordinary  cases,  a  due  regard 
to  their  own  interests  cannot  be  a  motive  sufficient  to  prompt 
individuals  to  such  undertakings.  It  may  no  doubt  happen,  as 
capitalists  are  every  now  and  then  engaging  in  injudicious  pro- 
jects, and  such  as  either  injure  or  ruin  them,  that  some  one  may 
be  imprudent  enough  to  enter  on  such  a  project  as  this,  and  may 
succeed  in  introducing  a  particular  manufacture,  though  with  the 
loss  of  part,  or  of  the  whole  of  his  capital.  But,  even  granting 
that  such  an  occurrence   as  this  may  sometimes  take  place,  it 

**  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  I.  c.  X. 

t  This  accounts  for  a  remark  of  our  author  :  ''  Tlie  undertaker  of  a  great 
manufactory  is  sometimes  alarmed  if  another  work  of  the  same  kind  is  estab- 
lished within  twenty  miles  of  him.  The  Dutch  undertaker  of  the  woollen 
manufacture  at  Abbeville,  stipulated,  that  no  work  of  the  same  kind  should 
be  established  within  thirty  leagues  of  that  city." 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  53 

would  be  far  from  serving  to  help  out  the  theory  we  are  discuss- 
ing. ''■  Every  injudicious  and  unsuccessful  project  in  agriculture, 
mines,  fisheries,  trade,  or  manufactures,  tends  to  diminish  the 
funds  destined  for  the  maintenance  of  productive  labor.  In  every 
such  project,  though  the  capital  is  consumed  by  productive  hands 
only,  yet,  as  by  the  injudicious  manner  they  are  employed,  they 
do  not  produce  the  full  value  of  their  consumption,  there  must 
always  be  some  diminution  in  what  would  otherwise  have  been 
the  productive  flmds  of  the  society."*  This  project  then,  being 
injudicious  and  unsuccessful,  for  it  would  have  occasioned  the 
loss  of  a  portion  of  individual  capital,  must,  by  these  principles, 
be  injurious  to  the  society. 

If  it  be  said  by  any  supporter  of  these  doctrines,  that  this  is 
too  strict  and  constrained  an  interpretation  of  them,  and  that  the 
loss  which  the  society  sustains,  by  the  destixiction  of  the  capital 
of  the  original  introducer  of  the  manufacture,  must  be  allowed  to 
be  made  up  by  the  gain  which  it  receives  from  the  profits  made 
by  those  who  afterwards  engage  in  it  ;f  I  reply,  that  I  perfectly 
agree  with  him  in  his  conclusions.  I  too  think,  that  the  small 
present  expenditure  of  the  funds  of  the  society  which  the  project 
may  occasion,  may  be  more  than  repaid,  by  the  large  future  rev- 
enue that  it  will  bring  in.  The  only  difference  between  us  is, 
that  the  doctrines  he  advocates,  teach  us  to  wait,  till  the  miscal- 
culations of  some  unfortunate  projector  confer  on  us  a  public 
benefit,  whereas,  I  hold,  that  it  would  be  more  just  and  judicious 
that  the  necessary  fii'st  cost  of  the  scheme  should  be  borne  by  the 
whole  community  ;  more  just,  as  thus  the  burden  necessary  to 
be  borne  to  procure  a  common  benefit  will  be  divided  amongst 
all,  instead  of  being  sustained  by  one;  more  judicious,  as  the 
society  will  not  have  to  wait,  for  the  attainment  of  a  desirable 
object,  on  so  doubtful  a  chance  as  the  folly  of  projectors. 

It  may  also  happen,  that  an  individual,  by  some  rare  concurrence 
of  accidents,  may  become  initiated  into  all  the  secrets  of  some 
foreign  manufacture,  and,  by  some  equally  rare  and  happy  union 
of  good  fortune  and  ingenuity,  may  succeed  in  introducing  it  into 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  II.  c.  III.  p.  131. 

t  "  The  landlord  can  afford  to  trj'  experiments  and  is  generally  disposed  to 
do  so.  His  unsuccessful  experiments  occasion  only  a  moderate  loss  to  him- 
self. His  successful  ones  contribute  to  the  improvement  and  better  cultiva- 
tion of  the  whole  country."     B.  V.  c.  II. 


54  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

his  own  country  with  profit  to  himself.  To  wait,  however,  for 
this,  or  any  such  hke  kicky  chance,  or  singularly  fortunate  con- 
currence of  circumstances,  while  better  could  be  done,  would  be 
like  waiting  till  the  natural  actions  of  the  winds  and  tides  should, 
by  some  strangely  propitious  concurrence  of  events,  cast  upon 
our  shores  a  valuable  plant  or  seed,  that  we  might  directly  pro- 
cure for  the  mere  trouble  and  expense  of  sending  for  it. 

There  are,  also,  another  class  of  motives,  capable,  no  doubt, 
of  leading  even  individuals  into  such  undertakings,  and  of  carry- 
ing them  successfully  through  them.  The  love  of  country  or 
fame,  or  the  desire  to  gratify  personal  vanity,  are  powerful  mo- 
tives of  human  action,  and  may  sometimes  even  be  directed  into 
such  channels  as  this.  But,  as  the  tendency  of  such  motives  to 
promote  the  growth  of  national  wealth  is  opposed  to  the  principles 
of  our  author,  and  is  expressly  denied  by  him,  we  need  not  here 
enter  into  any  inquiry  concerning  them. 

There  is,  however,  one  case,  in  which  it  cannot  be  denied, 
that  the  efforts  of  individuals  to  promote  their  own  interests  may 
be  sufficient  to  introduce  a  new  manufacture.  If,  in  the  progress 
of  events,  the  requisites  for  a  foreign  manufacture  come  to  be 
produced  in  so  great  abundance,  and  with  so  much  facility,  in 
any  country,  that  a  projector  there  finds  that  he  can  from  the 
first  afford  to  manufacture  the  commodity,  and  sell  it  at  as  low  a 
rate  as  the  foreign  merchant,  a  due  regard  to  self-interest  will 
certamly  direct  a  portion  of  the  national  capital  into  that  employ- 
ment. But,  a  case  of  the  circumstances  of  a  country  being  so 
peculiarly  favorable  to  the  practice  of  a  foreign  art,  that,  in  the 
very  first  essays  it  makes  in  it,  it  can  successfully  compete  with 
another,  where  that  art  has  been  long  established,  is  assuredly 
very  rare ;  and,  if  any  such  case  occur,  we  may  be  satisfied  that 
the  manufacture  might,  with  much  advantage,  have  been  pre- 
viously introduced. 

In  a  passage  already  quoted,  it  is  observed,  that,  "  when 
a  taste  for  foreign  manufactures  becomes  general,  the  mer- 
chants, in  order  to  save  the  expense  of  carriage,  naturally  en- 
deavor to  establish  some  manufacture  of  the  same  kind  in  their 
own  country."  These  expressions  are  somewhat  too  loose 
to  coincide  with  our  author's  theory.  It  cannot  be  to  save 
the  expense  of  carriage,  but  to  add  to  his  own  riches,  that  a 
merchant  will  endeavor  to  do  any  such  thing.     The  consumma- 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  55 

tion  of  such  a  measure,  by  saving  a  considerable  expense  to  the 
community,  might  indeed  add  largely  to  the  means  of  mcreasing 
their  wealth  in  possession  of  all  the  merchants,  or  rather  of  all 
the  members  of  the  society  ;  but  "  it  is  his  o\\ti  advantage,  and 
not  that  of  the  society,  which  every  member  of  it  has  in  view  ; " 
and,  in  this  system  of  perfect  liberty  and  freedom  from  restraint, 
which  is  asserted  to  be  the  true  plan  of  carrying  the  general 
prosperity  of  the  community  to  the  highest  pitch,  the  difficulty 
is,  to  discover  a  method  of  inducing  an  individual  to  incur  an 
unavoidable  outlay,  the  returns  from  which,  although  very  bene- 
ficial to  the  whole  society,  are  no  more  so  to  him  who  lays  out  a 
great  deal,  than  to  others  who  lay  out  nothing.  Union  is  said  to 
give  strength.  But  union  cannot  exist  unless  there  be  a  bond  to 
unite,  and  this  bond  must  confine  and  restrain.  The  rods  to 
make  a  bundle  were  tied  together.  IMen  are  tied  by  law,  a 
bond  binding  all  to  pursue  the  course  supposed  to  conduce  most 
to  the  general  happiness.  This  bond,  though  restraining  indi- 
vidual freedom  of  action,  and  preventing  individuals  from  pursu- 
ing the  course  which  they  might  find  most  conducive  to  their 
0^11  private  happiness,  has  not,  on  the  whole,  been  esteemed  to 
have  slightly  promoted  the  great  end  for  which  it  exists,  the 
general  wellbeing  of  mankind.  We  seek  to  rectify  its  errors, 
not  to  abolish  it.  The  peculiarity  of  this  system,  relating  to  this 
particular  part  of  the  field  of  human  action,  is,  that  it  maintains 
that  men  cannot  in  it,  as  elsewhere,  unite,  so  as  to  attain  a  com- 
mon good.  That,  on  the  contrary,  when  they  so  unite,  instead 
of  attaining  a  common  good,  they  necessarily  burden  themselves 
with  a  common  evil.  It  aims,  not  to  remedy  any  errors  com- 
mitted in  adjusting  the  bond,  but,  to  cut  it  asunder  and  cast  it 
away.  It  is  called  a  system  of  complete  freedom  from  restraint 
and  perfect  liberty.  These  terms,  when  looked  at  nearly,  will 
be  found  to  mean  a  dissolution  of  all  bonds  and  total  isolation  of 
interests.  Hence,  in  this  particular  case,  where  an  end  is  to  be 
gained,  the  attainment  of  which  it  is  admitted  would  be  beneficial 
to  all,  it  is  yet  maintained  that  it  is  impossible  for  all  to  bring  it 
to  pass  without  hurting  instead  of  benefiting  themselves. 

It  is  impossible  to  shut  the  eyes  to  the  fact,  that  the  introduc- 
tion of  an  art  into  any  country,  enabling  the  labor  of  its  inhabit- 
ants at  once  to  transmute  the  products,  which  nature,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  their  own  industry,  procures  for  them,  into  thecommodi- 


56  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

ties  their  wants  demand,  instead  of  sending  them  to  a  distance  to 
other  people  to  effect  that  change,  is  a  great  good  to  all,  were  it 
only  for  the  mere  saving  of  transport  thus  effected  ;  but  it  is 
maintained,  that  it  is  mipossible  for  all  the  members  of  the  com- 
munity advantageously  to  unite  in  bringing  about  this  common 
benefit.  It  is  clearly  seen,  that  a  new  channel  might  be  opened 
from  the  exhaustless  river  of  human  power,  springing  fi-om  the 
mingled  sources  of  nature  and  art,  and  that,  if  so,  a  plenteous 
stream  would  flow  in  on  the  community  from  which  individuals 
drawing  might  largely  add  to  the  general  opulence.  But  some 
means  must  be  employed  to  open  it  up.  There  is  an  obstraction 
in  the  w^ay  that  must  previously  be  overcome ;  a  rock  blocking  it 
up  that  must  be  removed.  No  individual  will  open  up  the  ' 
channel,  because,  were  he  so  to  do,  he  could  derive  no  more 
benefit  from  the  labor  than  others  who  had  not  labored.  The 
whole  society,  or  rather  the  legislator,  the  power  acting  for  the 
whole  society,  might  do  so,  and  in  suxiilar  cases  has  done  so,  and, 
to  judge  of  the  measure  by  the  events  consequent  on  it,  with  the 
happiest  success.     Why,  then,  should  he  not  ? 

The  arguments  advanced  by  the  author  of  the  Wealth  of  Na- 
tions, to  prove  that  the  legislator  never  ought  to  lend  his  aid  to 
effect  such  a  purpose,  are  chiefly  contained  in  the  second  chapter 
of  the  fourth  book.  They  will  be  found  to  rest  almost  altogether 
on  the  assumption,  that  national  and  individual  capital  increase 
in  precisely  the  same  manner.  This  notion,  I  flatter  myself  I 
have  shown,  cannot,  by  any  means,  be  taken  as  a  self-evident 
principle,  or  one  so  firmly  estabhshed  as  to  serve  to  build  an 
important  practical  doctrine  on  it.  But,  even  admitting  that  the 
two  processes  are  similar,  the  arguments  of  Adam  Smith  would 
not  altogether  bear  out  his  conclusions. 

It  is,  he  says,  and  the  sentmient  serves  for  a  motto,  and  forms, 
indeed,  the  substance  of  two  volumes  that  have  contributed 
greatly  to  spread  his  doctrines  over  Europe,  "  It  is  the  maxim  of 
every  prudent  master  of  a  family,  never  to  attempt  to  make  at 
home  what  it  Avill  cost  him  more  to  make  than  to  buy.  The 
tailor  does  not  attempt  to  make  his  own  shoes,  but  buys  them  of 
the  shoemaker.  The  shoemaker  does  not  attempt  to  make  his 
own  clothes,  but  employs  a  tailor.  The  farmer  attempts  to  make 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  but  employs  those  different  artificers. 
All  of  them  find  it  for  their  interest  to  employ  their  whole  industry 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  57 

in  a  way  in  which  they  have  some  advantage  over  their  neigh- 
bors, and  to  purchase  with  a  part  of  its  produce,  or,  what  is  the 
same  thing,  with  the  price  of  a  part  of  it,  whatever  else  they  have 
occasion  for.  What  is  prudence  in  the  conduct  of  every  private 
family  can  scarce  be  folly  in  that  of  a  great  kingdom." 

To  make  the  fanciful  parallel  here  assumed  as  complete,  in 
any  sense  just,  it  would  be  necessary  to  place  the  tailor  at  a  hun- 
dred miles  distance  from  the  shoemaker.  Were  he  at  this  dis- 
tance, and  did  he  find  that  the  expense  of  getting  a  pair  of  shoes 
carried  so  far  was  considerable,  perhaps  exceeding  their  first  cost, 
he  might  find  it  good  economy  even  to  make  them  himself.  To 
be  sure,  the  procuring  the  requisite  tools  and  the  learning  their 
use,  would  render  the  making  of  the  first  few  pairs  much  more 
expensive  than  the  purchasing  of  them  would  have  been.  But 
this  necessary  dearness  of  the  first  articles  produced  might  be 
compensated  by  the  cheapness  of  those  produced  subsequently. 
In  the  same  way,  though  a  fanner,  if  the  tailor  and  shoemaker 
were  near  at  hand,  would  do  wisely  to  employ  them,  yet,  if  they 
were  at  a  great  distance,  he  might  possibly  with  advantage  dis- 
pense with  their  services,  and  set  some  of  his  family  to  make 
clothes  and  shoes  for  the  rest.  A  farmer,  indeed,  would  have 
peculiar  inducements  to  practise  some  trades,  those,  namely,  for 
which  he  supplied  the  raw  materials,  as  by  doing  so  he  would 
be  saved  the  carriage,  both  of  the  articles  made,  and  of  the  stuff 
for  making  them.  It  is  thus,  that,  in  fact,  in  most  countries  where 
the  population  is  scattered  and  the  internal  communications  are 
bad,  many  trades  are  practised  in  the  farmers'  houses  and  by 
their  own  famihes.  In  this  way  it  is  that,  in  very  many  of  the 
recently  settled  parts  of  North  America,  every  operation  that  the 
wool  undergoes,  from  the  takino-  off  the  fleece  to  the  cutting  and 
making  up  the  cloth,  is  performed  in  the  farmer's  house  and  by 
his  own  family.  A  similar  state  of  things  caused  a  similar  prac- 
tice to  prevail  in  England  a  century  ago,  and,  at  present,  keeps 
up  many  of  those  manufactures  which  are  properly  termed 
domestic,  in  many  other  parts  of  Europe.  In  Canada  it  is  not 
uncommon  for  the  farmer  to  have,  not  only  the  whole  processes 
that  wool  undergoes  till  it  come  to  be  worn,  carried  on  by  the 
members  of  his  own  family,  but  also  to  get  a  great  variety  of 
other  things  made  by  them,  which  he  could  not  procure  other- 
wise unless  by  sending  to  an  inconvenient  distance.     The  mend- 

8       • 


58  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

ing  of  shoes,  very  generally,  the  making  of  them,  not  unfre- 
quently,  and  sometimes  even  the  manufacturing  the  leather,  are 
in  recent  and  remote  settlements  thus  performed.  The  latter 
process,  I  may  add,  from  various  circumstances,  but  chiefly  from 
the  use  of  the  bark  of  a  sort  of  pine  peculiar  to  the  country,  and 
in  general  very  common,  and  which,  unlike  that  of  the  oak, 
is  very  thick  and  easily  collected,  is  much  less  expensive  in 
Canada  than  in  Britain. 

I  knew  two  brothers  whose  farms  or  estates  lay  in  one  of  the 
interior  districts  of  that  country,  in  the  midst  of  its  forests,  and 
consequently  at  a  considerable  distance,  perhaps  twenty  or  thirty 
miles,  from  artificers  of  any  description.  Having  each  of  them 
large  families  and  productive  farms,  they  had  occasion  for  the 
services  of  various  artificers,  and  had  the  means  of  paying  them. 
Nevertheless,  they  very  rarely  employed  them ;  almost  every 
article  they  required  was  made  by  some  one  of  the  two  families. 
As  they  were  prudent  and  sagacious  men,  of  which  they  produced 
the  best  evidence  in  the  general  success  of  their  undertakings, 
and  the  prosperity  of  the  settlement  of  which  they  were  at  the 
head,  I  think  it  likely,  tliat  in  this  also  they  had  turned  their 
means  to  the  best  account.  In  fact,  as  they  who  are  familiar 
with  the  details  of  beginning  settlements  in  North  America,  will 
admit,  by  this  plan  they  in  a  great  measure  obviated  the  two 
chief  drawbacks  on  the  prosperity  of  new  and  remote  settlements, 
the  excessive  dearness  of  every  article  not  produced  there,  from 
the  great  expense  attending  the  transport  of  the  raw  produce  and 
retransport  of  the  manufactured  goods,  and  the  serious  incon- 
venience arising  from  the  difficulty,  in  such  situations,  of  supply- 
ing, when  necessary,  unforeseen  but  pressing  wants. 

Among  other  things  which  they  got  made  on  their  own  farms, 
were  boots,  shoes,  and  leather.  That  they  might  get  this  done, 
they  were  at  the  pains  and  expense  of  sending  one  of  the  young 
men  to  some  distance,  to  make  himself  sufliciently  master  of  those 
trades  for  their  purpose.  They  thought,  however,  that  the  cost 
they  were  thus  put  to  was  repaid,  thrice  over,  by  the  saving  of 
time  and  expense  which  it  effected  for  them,  in  enabling  them  to 
make,  out  of  leather  which  cost  them  very  little,  numerous  arti- 
cles that  they  must  otherwise  have  been  constantly  sending  for 
to  a  great  distance  by  roads  that  were  almost  impracticable  a  great 
part  of  the  season.     I  do  not  know  whether  in  this  their  conduct 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  59 

was  judicious  or  otherwise,  but,  it  is  very  certain,  that  however 
apparently  pradent  the  measure  may  have  been,  and  however 
great  the  saving  effected  by  it  might  have  been,  it  was  completely 
contrary  to  our  author's  doctrines,  and  might  easily  be  shown  by 
them  to  have  been  necessarily  and  inevitably  injurious. 

We  may  suppose  that,  just  at  the  time  when  these  two  legislators 
of  this  little  community  had  come  to  the  determination  of  taking 
means  to  dispense  with  the  services  of  the  distant  tanner  and 
shoemaker,  they  were  addressed  on  this  subject  by  a  philosopher 
of  this  school.  His  reasonings  would  doubtless  have  been  in  the 
following  strain.  "  You  are  assuredly  wrong  in  the  plan  you  are 
going  to  adopt,  for  it  proceeds  upon  very  erroneous  and  illiberal 
principles,  as  I  can  easily  show  you.  You  are  in  want,  you  say,  of 
some  pairs  of  shoes,  surely  then  it  is  best  for  you  to  purchase  them 
where  you  can  get  them  cheapest.  But,  by  the  plan  you  are 
taking  of  going  to  a  great  expense  to  have  them  made  at  home, 
they  will  certainly  cost  you  more  when  made  there,  than  if  bought 
«t  the  place  where  you  have  hitherto  purchased  shoes.  And,  if 
that  place  can  supply  you  with  this  commodity  cheaper  than  you 
yourself  can  make  it,  better  buy  it  there  with  some  part  of  the 
produce  of  your  own  industry.  The  general  industry  of  your 
settlement  must  always  be  in  proportion  to  the  capital  which 
employs  it,  and  will  not  be  diminished  by  being  left  to  be 
em.ployed  in  a  way  in  which  you  have  some  advantage.  By 
forcing  it  to  produce  an  object  which  it  can  buy  cheaper  than  it 
can  make,  it  certainly  is  not  employed  to  the  greatest  advantage. 
Let  things  therefore  take  their  natural  course,  and  shoes  will  be 
made  at  your  doors  when  it  is  fit  for  them  to  be  made  there." 

To  these  reasonings  our  legislators  might  possibly  reply,  "  We 
confess  that  the  first  pairs  of  shoes  that  we  get,  will  cost  us  much 
more,  thus  made  at  home,  than  they  would  do  were  we  to  buy 
them  abroad.  But  then  it  will  only  be  for  the  first  articles  man- 
ufactured that  we  shall  pay  so  high,  in  the  end  they  will  come 
cheaper  to  us  at  home  than  from  abroad ;  and  it  is  to  effect  this 
desirable  result,  that  we  are  going  to  undertake  the  project.  We 
don't  understand  very  well  what  you  mean  by  the  natural  course 
of  affairs,  but  we  think  the  sooner  we  can  get  them  to  take  a 
course,  that  will  before  long  make  things  cheaper  to  us,  the 
better."  The  answer  to  this  in  the  words  of  our  author  would 
be:  "  I  don't  at  all  dispute,  that,  by  means  of  this  project,  this 


^.r 


60  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

particular  manufacture  may  be  acquired  sooner  than  it  could  be 
otherwise,  and  after  a  certain  time,  may  be  made  at  home  as 
cheap,  or  cheaper,  than  abroad.  But,  though  the  industry  of  your 
society  may  be  thus  carried  with  advantage  into  a  particular 
channel  sooner  than  it  could  have  been  otherwise,  it  will  by  no 
means  follow  that  the  sum  total,  either  of  its  industry,  or  its  rev- 
enue, can  ever  be  augmented  by  any  such  project.  The  indus- 
try of  your  society  can  augment  only  in  proportion  as  its  capital 
augments,  and  its  capital  can  augment  only  in  proportion  to  what 
can  be  saved  out  of  its  revenue.  But  the  immediate  effect  of 
this  project  of  yours  is  to  diminish  its  revenue ;  and  what  dimin- 
ishes its  revenue  is  certainly  not  very  likely  to  augment  its  cap- 
ital faster  than  it  would  augment,  were  you  to  leave  capital  and 
industry  to  find  their  natural  employments." 

Our  legislators  might  still  possibly  answer.  "  As  far  as  we 
can  comprehend  your  arguments  they  reduce  themselves  to  this. 
We  have  to  give  out  what  is  a  considerable  sum  to  us,  before 
we  can  carry  this  project  into  effect,  and,  for  this  outlay,  you 
think  we  shall  get  no  adequate  return.  Now  in  this  our  opinion 
differs  from  yours.  We  know  indeed  that  we  must  expend  some- 
thing, but  we  think  that  in  the  long  run  we  shall  be  better  repaid 
for  this  expenditure,  by  this  undertaking,  than  by  any  other  in 
which  we  could  employ  our  funds.  We  never  yet  got  any  thing 
without  giving  something  for  it,  and,  although  we  in  this  instance 
give  money  or  money's  worth,  and  get  chiefly  knowledge  and  skill 
in  return,  yet  if  you  will  take  the  trouble  of  examining  the  calcu- 
lations we  have  been  making  of  the  saving  which  w'e  shall  in  a 
few  years  effect,  chiefly  by  means  of  this  knowledge  and  skill,  on 
what  we  annually  pay  for  shoes  and  boots,  we  think  you  will 
agree  with  us  that  we  shall  gather  in  three  times  what  we  gave 
out." 

"  No  no,"  our  philosopher  would  exclaim,  "  this  is  quite  un- 
necessary, I  see  now  how  the  case  stands.  I  perceive  you  have 
got  a  theory  as  well  as  I  have.  But  your  theory  is  that  of  prac- 
tical men  who  reason  upon  facts,  w  hereas  my  theory  is  built  upon 
general  axioms.  Now  there  is  this  great  difference  between  two 
such  theories,  that  when  they  are  opposed  to  each  other  the  latter, 
such  as  mine  must  always  be  right,  the  former  such  as  yours 
wrong.  My  main  axiom  on  which  is  founded  a  great  system  is, 
that  capital  always  augments  by  accumulation.     This  you  per- 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  6| 

ceive  is  a  general  axiom,  and  however  it  may  be  that  there  may 
be  apparent  exceptions  to  it,  yet  as  it  is  a  general  axiom,  it  is  a 
philosophical  consequence  that  these  exceptions  can  only  be  appar- 
ent. Your  theory  is  opposed  to  this  axiom  of  mine,  for  you 
pretend  to  say  that  capital  may  be  augmented  by  other  means 
than  simple  accumulation,  and  very  strangely  assert  that,  after 
giving  it  out  of  your  hands,  you  will  get  it  replaced  to  you,  with 
large  profit,  out  of  the  skill  and  knowledge  which  the  outlay  has 
procured  you.  But,  as  in  proof  of  this  you  bring  me  only  facts 
and  figures,  you  will  see  of  course  that  it  is  quite  unnecessary  for 
me  to  notice  such  arguments  ;  for,  however  plainly  it  might  from 
them  appear  that  your  scheme  is  practicable  and  must  ultimately 
liberally  repay  your  advances,  yet,  this  conclusion  being  proved 
by  reasoning,  is  a  theory,  and  that  theory  having  the  disadvantage 
of  not  being  drawn  like  mine  from  general  axioms,  and  being 
merely  a  laborious  deduction  from  particular  observations,  it  must 
of  necessity  follow  from  indubitable  philosophical  principles,  that 
it  is  wrong,  and  mine  right.  The  case  being  so,  you  are,  I  hope, 
men  of  too  good  sense  to  dispute  the  matter  farther.  Should 
you  however  persevere  I  must  take  the  liberty  of  telling  you  that 
you  are  too  narrow-minded  theorists,  and  that,  by  interfering,  in 
the  manner  you  are  about  to  do,  with  the  natural  course  of  events, 
you  will  infallibly  waste  the  resources  of  your  infant  community, 
and  retard  its  prosperity." 

I  apprehend  such  philosophic  arguments  would  not  have  had 
much  success  with  them  or  other  men  of  practice,  and  that,  even 
should  we  take  the  procedure  adopted  by  individuals,  as  a  fit  model 
for  that  of  nations,  we  would  not  find  that  it  altos-ether  agreed 
with  the  rules  which  the  doctrines  of  Adam  Smith  inculcate. 
The  reason  is,  that  individuals,  as  well  as  nations,  acquire  wealth 
from  other  sources  than  mere  saving  from  revenue ;  that  skill  is 
as  necessary,  and  consequently  as  valuable,  a  cooperator  with  the 
industry  of  both,  as  either  capital  or  parsimony  ;  and  that  there- 
fore the  expenditure  which  either  may  be  called  on  to  make  to 
attain  the  requisite  skill,  is  very  well  bestowed. 

But,  though  skill  is  valuable  both  to  nations  and  to  individuals, 
there  are  many  circumstances  that  render  it  more  so  to  the  former, 
than  to  the  latter.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  more  durable.  What- 
ever may  be  the  perfection  to  which  an  individual  may  have 
brought  his  skill,  dexterity,  and  judgment,  in  conducting  any  par- 


62  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

ticular  set  of  operations,  that  perfection  perishes  with  him.  What- 
ever expense  it  may  have  cost  him  to  acquire  this  possession,  and 
however  valuable  it  may  be  to  himself,  he  cannot  transmit  it  to 
his  heirs.  But  any  addition  which  a  society  makes,  to  the  skill, 
dexterily,  and  judgment,  with  which  its  members  exercise  any 
branch  of  industry,  is  not  of  this  fleeting  nature.  Instead  of  the 
benefits  derived  from  it,  being  bounded  by  the  short  space  of  time 
that  the  active  life  of  an  individual  embraces,  they  are  continuous 
with  the  national  existence.  If  it  be  worth  while  paying  a  con- 
siderable apprentice-fee,  for  the  acqusition  of  an  art,  which  can 
probably  only  be  exercised  for  twenty  or  thirty  years,  it  must  be 
better  worth  while  to  pay  for  one,  the  advantages  derived  from 
the  possession  of  which,  may  be  retained  for  hundreds  or  thou- 
sands of  years. 

Again,  whatever  an  individual  may  expend  in  acquiring  any 
degree  of  skill  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  lost  to  him ;  though  he  may 
draw  a  revenue,  he  cannot  draw  a  capital  from  it.  No  portion  of 
the  future  skilled  labor  of  an  individual  can  be  sold,  because  it 
can  only  be  sold  with  himself,  and  such  bargains,  sanctioned  in 
ancient,  are  not  so  in  modern  times.  No  where  can  one  effect- 
ually make  over  his  services  for  a  certain  time  to  any  other  per- 
son, because,  no  where  can  he  give  that  person  the  power  of  en- 
forcing their  exertion.  On  the  contrary,  any  portion  of  the 
future  revenue,  yielded,  by  the  skilled  industry  of  a  nation,  may 
be  sold,  and,  consequently  an  addition  to  the  national  skill  gives  a 
proportional  addition  to  the  command  of  national  resources,  to  meet 
any  sudden  emergency.  The  produce  of  the  general  industry 
of  Great  Britain,  stands  mortgaged  for  a  sum,  which  it  would 
have  appeared  a  century  ago  utterly  impossible  to  conceive  that 
industry  could  sustain,  because,  a  century  ago,  it  was  impossible 
to  conceive  the  vast  increase  which  has  since  been  made  to  the 
skill,  dexterity,  and  judgment,  with  which  it  was  then  directed. 

Besides  these  and  other  differences  between  the  effects  result- 
ing from  the  acquisition  of  skill  in  the  pursuits  of  industry  by 
nations,  and  by  individuals,  there  is  one  on  which  I  have  already 
enlarged.  An  increase  of  skill  seems  to  be  always  a  necessary 
concomitant  of  the  increase  of  national  wealth,  whereas  it  is  not 
always  a  concomitant  of  the  increase  of  individual  wealth.  It  is 
not  therefore  true,  that  nations  and  individuals  increase  their 
wealth  in  the  same  manner,  nor,  were  it  so,  do  the  rules,  which 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  63 

modem  political  economists  lay  down  for  the  increase  of  national 
wealth,  agree  with  those  which  individuals  adopt  in  their  en- 
endeavors  to  augment  their  private  stocks. 

The  main  arguments,  however,  which  the  author  brings  for- 
ward, are  built  on  what  he  assumes  to  be  general  principles. 
The  doctrine  he  maintains  throughout  his  whole  system,  and 
more  particularly  in  the  chapter  to  which  I  have  alluded,  turns 
on  the  following  passage. 

"  If  a  foreign  country  can  supply  us  with  a  commodity  cheaper 
than  we  ourselves  can  make  it,  better  buy  it  of  them  with  some 
part  of  the  produce  of  our  own  industry,  employed  in  a  way  in 
which  we  have  some  advantage.  The  general  industry  of  the 
country  being  always  in  proportion  to  the  capital-  which  emplbys 
it,  will  not  thereby  be  diminished,  no  more  than  the  capital  of 
an  artificer  is  diminished  who  purchases  an  article  from  another 
practising  a  different  art  instead  of  making  it  himself.  It  will 
only  be  left  to  find  out  the  Avay  in  which  it  can  be  employed 
with  the  greatest  advantage.  It  is  certainly  not  employed  to 
the  greatest  advantage,  when  it  is  thus  directed  towards  an  object 
which  it  can  buy  cheaper  than  it  can  make.  The  value  of  its 
annual  produce  is  certainly  more  or  less  diminished,  when  it  is 
thus  turned  away  from  producing  commodities  evidently  of  more 
value  than  the  commodity  which  it  is  directed  to  produce.  Ac- 
cording to  the  supposition,  that  commodity  could  be  purchased 
from  foreign  countries  cheaper  than  it  can  be  made  at  home  ;  it 
could  therefore  have  been  purchased  with  a  part  only  of  the 
commodities,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  with  a  part  only  of  the 
price  of  the  commodities,  which  the  industry  employed  by  an 
equal  capital  would  have  produced  at  home,  had  it  been  left  to 
follow  its  natural  course.  The  industry  of  the  country,  there- 
fore, is  thus  turned  away  from  a  more  to  a  less  advantageous 
employment ;  and  the  exchangable  value  of  its  annual  produce, 
instead  of  being  increased,  accordins  to  the  intention  of  the  law- 
giver,  must  necessarily  be  diminished  by  every  such  regulation. 

"  By  means  of  such  regulations,  indeed,  a  particular  manufac- 
ture may  sometimes  be  acquired  sooner  than  it  could  have  been 
otherwise,  and  after  a  certain  time  may  be  made  at  home  as 
cheap,  or  cheaper,  than  in  the  foreign  country.  But  though  the 
industry  of  the  society  may  be  thus  carried  with  advantage  into 
a  particular  channel  sooner  than  it  could  have  been  otherwise, 


64  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

it  will  by  no  means  follow  that  the  sum  total  either  of  its  indus- 
try or  of  its  revenue,  can  ever  be  augmented  by  any  such  reg- 
ulation. The  industry  of  the  society  can  augment  only  in  pro- 
portion as  its  capital  augments,  and  its  capital  can  augment  only 
in  proportion  to  what  can  be  gradually  saved  out  of  its  revenue. 
But  the  immediate  effect  of  every  such  regulation  is  to  diminish 
its  revenue ;  and  what  diminishes  its  revenue  is  certainb'  not 
very  likely  to  augment  its  capital  faster  than  it  would  have  aug- 
mented of  its  own  accord,  had  both  capital  and  industry  been 
left  to  find  out  their  natural  employments. 

"  Though,  for  want  of  such  regulations,  the  society  should  never 
acquire  the  proposed  manufacture,  it  would  not  upon  that  account 
necessarily  be  the  poorer  in  any  one  period  of  its  duration.  In 
every  period  of  its  duration  its  whole  capital  and  industry  might 
still  have  been  employed,  though  upon  different  objects,  in  the 
manner  that  was  most  advantageous  at  the  time.  In  every  period 
its  revenue  might  have  been  the  greatest  which  its  capital  could 
afford,  and  both  capital  and  revenue  might  have  been  augmented 
with  the  greatest  possible  rapidity. 

"  The  natural  advantages  which  one  country  has  over  another, 
in  producing  particular  commodities,  are  sometimes  so  great,  that 
it  is  acknowledged  by  all  the  world  to  be  in  vain  to  struggle  with 
them.  By  means  of  glasses,  hot-beds,  and  hot-walls,  very  good 
grapes  can  be  raised  in  Scotland  and  very  good  wine,  too,  can 
be  made  of  them,  at  about  thirty  times  the  expense  for  which  at 
least  equally  good  can  be  brought  from  foreign  countries.  Would 
it  be  a  reasonable  law  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  all  foreign 
wines,  merely  to  encourage  the  making  of  claret  and  burgundy 
in  Scotland  ?  But  if  there  would  be  a  manifest  absurdity  in 
turning  towards  any  employment  thirty  times  more  of  the  capital 
and  industry  of  the  country  than  would  be  necessary  to  purchase 
from  foreign  countries  an  equal  quantity  of  the  commodities 
wanted,  there  must  be  an  absurdity,  though  not  altogether  so 
glaring,  yet  exactly  of  the  same  kind,  in  turning  towards  any 
such  employment  a  thirtieth,  or  even  a  three  hundredth  part  of 
either.  Whether  the  advantages  which  one  country  has  over 
another  be  natural  or  acquired,  is  in  this  respect  of  no  conse- 
quence. As  long  as  the  one  country  has  those  advantages  and 
the  other  wants  them,  it  will  always  be  more  advantageous  for  the 
latter  rather  to  buy  of  the  former  than  to  make.     It  is  an  acquired 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  65 

advantage  only,  which  one  artificer  has  over  his  neighbor  who 
exercises  another  trade;  and  yet  they  both  find  it  more  advan- 
tageous to  buy  of  one  another,  than  to  make  what  does  not  be- 
long to  their  particular  trades." 

I  must  be  excused  for  running  somewhat  into  repetition  in 
observing,  that  the  strength  of  this  passage  evidently  lies  in  the 
axioms,  "  The, industry  of  the  society  can  augment  only  as  its 
capital  augments,  and  its  capital  can  augment  only  in  proportion 
to  what  can  be  gradually  saved  out  of  its  revenue  ;"  and  that  the 
proper  answer  to  these  axioms  is,  either,  that  they  prove  nothing, 
or,  that  they  prove  it  by  a  begging  of  the  question,  by  assuming 
that  to  be  proved  which  is  in  process  of  proof.  The  expression, 
the  industry  of  the  society  can  augment  only  as  its  capital  aug- 
ments, may  signify,  either,  that  the  augmentation  of  a  society's 
capital,  and  an  increase  of  its  productive  industry  always  accom- 
pany each  other  ;  or,  that  every  augmentation  of  the  productive- 
ness of  the  general  industry,  is  produced  by  an  augmentation  of 
capital,  and  can  be  produced  by  nothing  else.  In  like  manner, 
the  expression,  the  capital  of  the  society  can  augment  only  in 
proportion  to  what  can  be  gradually  saved  out  of  its  revenue, 
may  signify,  either,  merely  that  the  saving  from  revenue  is  a 
necessary  part  of  the  increase  of  the  general  capital,  and  mea- 
sures its  amount,  or,  that  there  are  no  other  means  of  augmenting 
its  capital  but  it.  In  the  former  of  these  two  senses  the  axioms 
prove  nothing ;  in  the  latter  they  prove  all  things  desired,  be- 
cause they  assume  them  as  acknowledged  truths.  The  double 
meaning  of  the  assumptions  contained  in  these  axioms,  and  the 
fahacy  into  which  they  may,  in  consequence,  be  made  to  lead, 
may  be  easily  perceived  by  an  application  of  them  to  the  trans- 
actions of  an  individual. 

A  person  residing  in  England,  owns  an  estate  in  the  West 
Indies,  which  he  proposes  to  visit.  His  motives  to  do  so  are, 
that  he  thinks,  that,  by  his  personal  superintendence,  he  can 
give  a  better  direction  to  the  industry  employed  on  it,  and  ren- 
der the  returns  greater.  In  order  to  do  so,  it  is  necessary  for 
him  to  procure  and  expend  a  certain  sum  to  pay  for  the  expense 
of  the  voyage,  and  the  cost  of  the  various  articles  which  his  pri- 
vate accommodation  will  require  there,  and  he  therefore  takes 
measures  to  apply  to  this  purpose  a  considerable  part  of  one 
year's  revenue  of  the  estate.     On  account  of  this  disbursement, 

9 


56  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

some  one  objects  to  the  project,  and  endeavors,  in  the  following 
manner,  to  prove  to  him  that  it  must  be  hurtful  to  his  interests : 
"  The  augmented  productiveness  of  your  estate,  and  the  in- 
creased amount  of  capital  at  which  it  will  be  estimated,  must  go 
on  together.  But,  to  add  to  capital,  it  is  necessary  to  save  froni 
revenue.  Now  the  scheme  you  are  about  to  embark  in  requires 
first  a  large  expenditure  of  revenue.  It  must  therefore  tend  to 
prevent  your  augmenting  your  capital,  and  consequently  the  pro- 
ductive industry  of  your  estate,  which  two  things  always  go  on 
together."  The  answer  to  this  reasoning  would  be  :  "  It  is 
chiefly  because  I  am  aw^are  that  the  productiveness  of  my  estate, 
and  wdiat  it  is  worth,  are  inseparably  conjoined,  that  1  am  about 
to  be  at  this  expense  and  trouble,  for  I  believe  they  will  enable 
me  to  put  things  in  such  a  train  that  its  productiveness  will  greatly 
increase,  and,  as  its  value  I  know  depends  on  the  revenue  it 
yields,  my  capital  will  consequently  be  augmented  by  much 
more  than  the  sum  I  am  going  to  expend." 

"  I  perceive  I  have  not  expressed  my  meaning  properly," 
replies  the  adviser,  "  1  should  have  said  ;  an  increased  produc- 
tiveness of  your  estate,  can  be  produced  by  no  other  means 
than  by  an  augmentation  of  the  capital  employed  on  it,  and  the 
amount  of  capital  you  can  possess  and  can  employ  on  it,  can  be 
augmented  in  no  other  way  than  by  saving  from  your  revenue. 
But  this  plan  of  yours  causes  an  expenditure  of  your  revenue,  it 
must  therefore  prevent  you  from  adding  to  your  capital,  and, 
consequently,  from  increasing  the  productiveness  of  the  industry 
which  is  set  in  motion  by  it  on  your  estate." 

The  West  India  proprietor  might  undoubtedly  reply :  "  My 
dear  Sir  you  are  completely  wrong.  The  productiveness  of  my 
estate  depends,  not  only  on  the  amount  of  the  capital  which  sets 
the  industry  employed  on  it  in  motion,  but  on  the  sort  of  motion 
it  gives  it ;  and  I  hope  so  to  improve  this,  by  a  more  judicious 
regulation  of  it,  that  the  same  power  will  produce  a  far  greater 
effect  than  it  does  at  present,  and  thus  to  show  you,  that  there 
are  other  means  of  augmenting  capital  than  simple  saving.  For 
I  take  it,  that  if  I  add  to  my  gains,  without  increasing  my  ex- 
penditure, the  procedure  may  be  just  as  effective  to  this  end,  as 
if  I  were  to  diminish  my  expenditure,  and  not  add  to  my  gains." 

If  we  understand  the  axioms  of  our  author  in  the  former  sense 
of  the  expressions,  it  is  clear,  that  when  applied  to  national  capital, 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  67 

they  prove  nothing  more  than  when  apphed  to  individual  capital. 
For,  if  it  be  merely  meant  that  the  productiveness  of  national 
industry,  and  the  augmentation  of  national  capital  advance  together, 
the  propriety  of  a  proposed  measure  may  as  well  be  inferred  from 
its  tendency  to  render  the  industry  of  the  community  more  pro- 
ductive, as  its  impropriety  may  be  inferred  from  its  requiring  a 
small  immediate  expenditure  of  revenue.  The  question  to  be 
determined  in  every  such  case,  would  then  be  similar  to  that  which 
an  individual  determines  when  deliberating  on  any  scheme  for  the 
augmentation  of  his  private  capital,  and  would  resolve  itself  into 
an  inquiry,  whether  or  not  the  probable  returns  from  the  proposed 
measure,  be  likely  to  be  a  sufficient  remuneration  for  the  expense 
of  carrying  it  into  effect.  But,  it  is  very  clear,  that  this  would 
be  a  constrained  interpretation  of  the  import  of  the  passage  ;  and 
that  the  mference  the  author  wished  his  expressions  to  convey, 
is,  that  an  increased  productiveness  of  the  industry  of  the  society 
can  be  produced  by  no  other  means  but  by  augmenting  its  capital, 
and  that  the  only  means  entering  into  the  process  of  augmenting 
its  capital  are  saving  from  its  revenue. 

The  proper  answer  to  these  axioms,  so  understood,  is,  this  is 
your  theory  no  doubt,  but  it  is  a  theory  which  is  merely  in  pro- 
cess of  proof,  and  not  yet  established.  Surely,  then,  it  is  scarce 
logical  to  answer  a  very  obvious  objection  to  it,  which  the  obser- 
vation of  human  affairs  presents,  by  assuming  its  tmth ;  or,  to 
deduce  the  mipropriety  of  a  practical  measure,  drawii  from  the 
phenomena  wdiich  human  affairs  present,  and  apparently  very 
beneficial,  by  showing  that  such  measure  is  contrary  to  its 
principles. 

The  question  hitherto  stands  thus.  You  pretend  to  account 
for  the  phenomena  of  the  augmentation  of  national  wealth  by 
showing,  that  an  increase  of  national  capital  tends  to  facilitate  the 
division  of  labor;  that  this  division  of  labor  in  itself  greatly  im- 
proves the  productive  powers  of  labor,  and  is  the  cajiise  of  all 
other  improvements  in  them.  That  this  increase  of  the  produc- 
tive powers  of  labor,  being  equivalent  to  an  increase  of  the  revenue 
of  the  society,  adds  to  its  power  of  accumulating  fresh  capital  and 
giving  farther  extent  to  the  division  of  labor,  the  great  generator, 
according  to  your  system,  of  all  wealth.  It  is  in  this  way  that, 
according  to  you,  the  augmentation  of  the  industry  of  the  society 
is  produced  by  an  augmentation  of  its  capital,  and  in  no  other 


68  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

manner,  and  its  capital  augmented  by  saving  from  revenue  and 
nothing  else,  and  that,  from  the  action  and  reaction  of  these 
principles  on  each  other,  the  whole  phenomena  of  the  growth  of 
national  capital  are  deducible. 

Now,  admitting  for  the  present  that  no  fallacy  can  be  detected 
in  the  principles  themselves,  they  must  still  be  admitted  to  be 
only  possible  or  probable  theoretical  assumptions,  to  be  proved 
by  the  observation  of  their  coincidence  with  facts.  Admitting 
then  also  that,  as  far  as  the  facts  which  relate  to  what  we  may 
call  the  history  of  the  internal  ^irogress  of  national  wealth  are 
concerned,  they  sufficiently  accord  with  them,  there  is  another 
class  of  facts  admitted  by  you,  which  these  principles  do  not 
explain,  and  to  which,  on  the  contrary,  they  seem  to  be  opposed. 

Arts  and  manufactures,  the  great  sources  of  increase  to  the 
productive  powers  of  labor,  do,  it  is  granted,  pass  from  country 
to  country.  It  would  appear  then,  that  the  gradual  increase 
which  the  accumulation  of  capital  produces  on  the  productive 
powers  of  any  society,  is  not  alone  sufficient  to  call  forth  all  the 
resources  which  that  society  possesses ;  but,  that  it  is  often 
necessary  to  seek  in  other  countries  for  the  means,  which  give 
these  resources  full  efficiency.  In  such  cases,  at  least,  therefore, 
the  augmented  w^ealth  of  the  society  cannot  be  said  altogether  to 
flow  from  the  gradual  increase  of  its  capital  by  accumulation,  the 
consequent  division  of  labor,  and  the  improvements  thence 
resulting.  Your  theory  is,  therefore,  so  far  most  certainly  defec- 
tive, as  it  acknowledges  the  existence  of  a  class  of  phenomena, 
the  laws  regulating  which  its  principles  by  no  means  explain. 

Instead,  however,  of  attempting  to  answer  the  objections  to 
your  system,  which  this  class  of  phenomena  present,  you  pre- 
tend to  say,  that  the  practical  rules  directly,  and  in  the  simplest 
manner,  deducible  from  them,  are  of  necessity  erroneous,  because 
contrary  to  the  principles  of  your  system.  It  being  acknowledged 
by  every  one,  even  by  yourself,  that  the  improvements  of  the 
productive  powers  of  labor  thus  effected  by  the  continued  spread 
of  the  arts  of  civilized  life  from  country  to  country,  are  among 
the  chief  causes  of  the  progress  of  national  wealth  and  prosperity, 
they  who  have  had  the  management  of  national  affairs,  have  in 
different  cases  come  to  the  unavoidable  conclusion,  that  they  did 
well  in  even  sacrificing  a  small  portion  of  the  national  revenue, 
provided  this  outlay  served  to  introduce  acknowledged  improve- 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  69 

merit  in  the  national  industry,  and  source  of  national  wealth. 
They  have  acted  in  this  as  an  individual  would  do  in  the  manage- 
ment of  his  private  affairs,  they  have  endeavored  to  introduce  an 
improvement  into  the  management  of  the  funds  with  which  they 
were  intrusted,  and  have  considered  the  price  to  be  paid  for  such 
improvement  warranted  by  the  increased  productive  powers  it 
would  give  to  the  same  capital,  and  consequent  increase  to  the 
national  revenue,  and  national  funds,  wliich  it  would  tend  to  pro- 
duce. Like  individual  schemes  their  projects  seem  sometimes  to 
have  succeeded,  and  sometimes  to  have  failed.  But  though, 
when  he  acts,  it  is  incident  to  man's  imperfect  nature  occasionally 
to  eiT,  to  sit  douTi  therefore  in  resolute  inactivity  would  be  the 
worst  error  he  could  commit. 

The  celebrated  author  admits,  that  a  manufacture  may  be 
introduced  by  the  operations  of  the  legislator,  sooner  than  it  could 
otherwise  be,  and  thus  come  to  be  made  at  home  as  cheap,  or 
cheaper,  than  abroad.  But  then,  he  says,  in  spite  of  these  appa- 
rent advantages  of  such  a  proceeding  on  his  part,  it  must  be 
wrong,  because  it  is  contrary  to  my  system.  And,  before  you 
can  prove  that  it  is  justifiable,  you  must  prove  that  the  benefits 
resulting  from  it  could  not  possibly  have  happened  some  other 
way.  "  Though,  for  want  of  such  regulations,  the  society  should 
never  acquire  the  proposed  manufacture,  it  would  not  upon  that 
account  necessarily  be  the  poorer  in  any  one  period  of  its  dura- 
tion. In  every  period  of  its  duration,  its  whole  capital  and 
industry  might  still  have  been  employed,  though  upon  different 
objects,  in  the  manner  that  was  most  advantageous  at  the  time. 
In  every  period  its  revenue  might  have  been  the  greatest  which 
its  capital  could  afford,  and  both  capital  and  revenue  might  have 
been  augmented  with  the  greatest  possible  rapidity." 

Now,  I  conceive,  that  instead  of  calling  on  his  opponents  to 
prove,  that  all  the  advantages  arising  from  any  such  scheme 
might  possibly  come  to  pass  without  it,  he  hmiself  has  to  show, 
that  they  must  come  to  pass  without  it.  And,  that  he  has  to  do 
so,  not  by  assuming  his  theoretical  principles  as  true, — ^for,  if  they 
are  so,  his  axioms  embrace  and  decide  this  and  every  case  at 
once, — but  by  an  examination  of  the  course  of  human  affairs,  and 
a  regular  deduction  from  them,  of  the  certainty  of  these  apparent 
advantages,  or  others  equivalent  to  them,  flowing  in  from  some 
other  channel  than  that  of  which  he  would  bar  the  opening. 


70  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

A  nation  imports  from  a  distance  a  manufactured  commodity, 
which  it  is  granted  it  could  make  as  cheap,  or  cheaper,  at  home, 
were  the  manufacture  introduced  there.  To  introduce  the  man- 
ufacture is,  however,  too  expensive  a  project  to  be  carried  mto 
effect  by  any  private  individual.  The  whole  society  might  do 
so,  through  the  expenditure  for  a  few  years  of  a  portion  of  its 
revenue,  much  less  than  what  an  equal  number  of  years  succeed- 
ing them  will  return  to  it  in  the  diminished  cost  of  the  article. 
He,  or  they,  who  legislate  for  the  society,  embrace  the  apparent 
benefit,  and,  by  means  of  a  small  expenditure,  effect  an  increase 
of  the  productive  powers  of  the  community ;  that  is,  they  give 
those  powers  the  capability  of  producing  the  same  quantity  of  an 
article  with  less  expense,  which  certainly  must  be  allowed  to  be 
an  increase  of  them.  In  this  the  legislator  acts  in  a  manner  that 
would  be  accounted  prudence  in  a  private  person,  who  conducted 
any  system  of  industry  for  his  own  emolument :  in  a  planter,  for 
instance,  who  owaied  and  managed  a  West  India  estate.  We 
should  undoubtedly  approve  of  such  a  person's  being  at  consid- 
erable expense,  in  instructing  his  overseers  and  negroes,  in  any 
improved  mode  of  conducting  the  business  of  the  plantation,  if 
this  improvement  more  than  proportionably  augmented  his 
revenue.  Neither  have  the  proceedings  of  legislators,  in  many 
cases  parallel  in  principle  to  this,  been  ever  objected  to.  It 
sometimes  happens,  for  instance,  that  those  engaged  in  cultivating 
the  ground  know  that  they  can  procure  seeds  of  plants,  or  races 
of  animals,  at  a  distance,  better  fitted  for  their  purposes  than 
those  they  have  at  home.  If  the  expense  of  procuring  them  is 
small,  and  such  as  will  be  remunerated  to  an  individual  by  the 
gain,  individuals  send  for  such  seeds  and  animals.  If  it  is  greater, 
they  sometimes  club  in  societies  for  the  purpose.  If  it  be  too 
great  for  these  societies,  the  legislator  aids  them  in  their  scheme, 
or  carries  it  into  effect  himself.  In  this  way  it  was,  that,  it  being 
thought  that  the  culture  of  the  bread  fruit  tree,  a  plant  indigenous 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  could  it  be  introduced  into  our  West  India 
Islands,  would  be  of  advantage  to  them,  government  were  at  the 
expense  of  sending  more  than  one  vessel,  on  that  long  voyage,  in 
order  to  transport  the  plant  there.  No  one  did,  or  could  object, 
to  the  outlay  of  a  portion  of  the  public  revenue  for  a  purpose  so 
laudable.  In  this  instance,  it  will  be  allowed  by  all,  that  it  would 
have  been  as  absurd  to  have  waited  in  expectation  that  some 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  7X 

individual  should  find,  or  should  imagine  he  would  find  it  for  his 
own  private  advantage  to  undertake  so  expensive  a  scheme,  as  it 
would  be  to  complain  of  the  comparatively  trifling  expenditure 
of  the  common  funds,  which  the  accomplishment  of  this  project 
conducive  to  the  common  good  required.  But  the  expenditure 
of  a  certain  amount  of  national  revenue,  for  the  purpose  of 
transporting  an  useful  art  from  a  distant  country,  bears,  surely, 
a  close  analogy  to  a  similar  expenditure,  for  the  purpose  of  trans- 
porting an  useful  plant.  If  the  one  be  praiseworthy,  the  other 
can  scarce  deserve  the  censure  that  has  been  heaped  on  it. 

Our  author  further  observes  :  "  The  natural  advantages  which 
one  country  has  over  another,  in  producing  particular  commodi- 
ties are  sometimes  so  great  that  it  is  acknowledged  by  all  the 
world  to  be  in  vain  to  struggle  with  them,"  And,  as  an  instance, 
he  gives  the  project  of  raising  grapes,  for  the  purpose  of  making 
wine,  in  Scotland. 

Extreme  cases  are  useful,  but,  to  be  so,  they  should  be  cor- 
rectly put.  The  main  question  in  dispute  is,  whether  or  not  it 
is  proper  to  introduce  a  manufacture  from  abroad,  by  the  aid  of 
the  legislator,  which,  when  so  introduced,  will  furnish  a  com- 
modity for  home  consumption  at  as  low,  or  at  a  lower  price,  than 
it  can  be  bought  for  in  the  foreign  country.  The  supposed  case 
of  a  commodity  which,  if  the  manufacture  of  it  be  introduced  at 
home,  will  cost  thirty  times  more,  or  a  thirtieth,  or  three  hun- 
dredth part  more  there  than  abroad,  can  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  determination  of  such  a  question. 

"  Whether  the  advantages  which  one  country  has  over  another 
be  natural  or  acquired,  is  in  this  respect  of  no  consequence."  On 
the  contrary,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  of  the  greatest  consequence, 
and,  for  this  very  reason,  that  it  is  only  "  as  long  as  the  one 
country  has  those  advantages,  and  the  other  wants  them,  that  it 
will  be  more  advantageous  for  the  latter  rather  to  buy  of  the 
former  than  to  make."  Now  natural  advantages  cannot  be  pro- 
cured by  any  expenditure  of  revenue  or  capital,  but  acquired 
advantages  may  often  be  got  by  means  of  a  very  small  expendi- 
ture. One  country  cannot,  at  any  purchase,  acquire  the  soil, 
the  climate,  the  commodiousness  of  situation  for  conducting  trade,, 
or  any  of  the  other  natural  advantages  which  another  country 
possesses;  were  it  so,  the  price  would  be  very  large  that  would 
not  be  willingly  paid  for  them.     But  one  country  can  often  with 


72  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

ease,  and  at  a  trifling  expense,  acquire  the  practical  skill  and  the 
knowledge  of  particular  arts  and  manufactures  which  another 
possesses,  and,  by  doing  so,  gain  the  advantage  of  procuring  for 
itself  the  products  of  this  skill  and  knowledge  at  home,  instead  of 
having  to  go  abroad  for  them.  In  the  passage  quoted,  natural 
advantages  and  acquired  are  reckoned  equivalents,  and  so  un- 
doubtedly they  are.  They  are  both  valuable  on  account  of  the 
products  they  yield  to  human  labor.  But  they  differ  in  this, 
that  the  latter  can  be  transferred  from  one  country  to  another, 
the  former  cannot.  Could  Scotland  acquire  the  sunny  skies  and  . 
more  genial  climate  of  France,  its  hills  might  be  covered  with 
vineyards,  instead  of  heather,  and  its  inhabitants  might  procure 
many  commodities  at  a  fourth  of  the  price  which  they  now  cost 
them.  No  one  would  object  to  a  considerable  expenditure  to 
acquire  so  great  an  advantage.  If  then,  the  acquisition  of  natural 
advantages  would  be  worth  paying  for,  Avhy  object  to  a  small 
expenditure  to  procure  advantages  which  are  allowed  to  be 
equivalent  to  those  natural  advantages  ? 

As  the  author  has  given  one  supposed  case,  as  he  conceived 
illustrative  of  the  question,  I  may  be  permitted  to  give  another, 
also  illustrative  of  it,  not  like  his,  however,  springing  from 
assumptions  liable  to  be  objected  to,  but,  as  will  be  seen,  framed 
upon  his  very  principles  and  admissions. 

A  certain  country  has  the  acquired  advantage  over  another  of 
possessing  the  knowledge  of  a  particular  art,  wdiich  this  other 
w^ants.  The  latter,  therefore,  imports  from  the  former  all  the 
goods,  the  product  of  that  art,  which  it  has  occasion  for.  As  it 
has  to  pay  for  these  goods,  it  luckily  happens  that  it,  on  its  side, 
has  also  acquired  advantages  in  possessing  the  knowledge  of 
another  art,  which  the  former  wants,  and  the  commodities  pro- 
duced by  which  it  has  occasion  for.  In  this  way,  the  one  sort  of 
goods  pays  for  the  other.  The  natural  and  acquired  advantages 
of  these  two  countries  are  either  similar  or  equivalent.  That  is, 
their  soil,  climate,  convenience  of  situation  for  trade,  and  their 
knowledge  of  other  arts,  though  not  exactly  the  same,  are  on  the 
w^hole  equally  balanced,  their  population  and  capital  are  equal. 
In  short,  they  as  much  resemble  two  neighboring  artificers,  ac- 
cording to  the  comparison  of  our  author,  exercising  different 
trades,  as  extensive  communities  inhabiting  separate  countries 
well  can   resemble   single   workmen  whose   dwellings   are  con- 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  73 

tiguous.  The  peculiar  manufacture  of  the  one  nation  is  hats,  of 
the  other  silk  goods.  The  silk  goods  which  the  one  annually 
consumes  cost  it  £2,000,000  ;  the  hats  which  the  other  con- 
sumes, the  same  sum.  Of  these  sums  25  per  cent,  is  made  up 
of  transport,  including  in  the  term,  not  the  mere  freight,  but  the 
wdiole  charges  paid  for  internal  transport,  for  warehousing,  and 
for  the  profits  of  the  different  capitals,  and  wages  of  the  various 
individuals  concerned  in  collecting  the  commodities  in  the  one 
country,  carrying  them  to,  and  distributing  them  over  the  other. 
Thus  the  annual  sum  which  these  commodities  cost  each  country, 
over  and  above  the  expense  of  producing  them,  is  £400,000. 
In  this  situation  things  have  long  remained,  and  must  continue  to 
remain,  unless  altered  by  some  change  in  the  policy,  or  great 
revolution  in  the  affairs  of  the  two  countries.  "  It  being  only 
for  the  sake  of  profit  that  any  man  employs  a  capital  in  the  sup- 
port of  industry,"  and,  from  the  acquired  advantages  which  each 
country  enjoys  over  the  other  in  the  production  of  its  peculiar 
manufacture,  it  being  impossible  for  any  projector  to  manufacture 
hats,  in  the  country  where  hats  have  not  hitherto  been  made,  or 
silks,  in  the  country  where  silks  have  not  hitherto  been  made, 
but  at  an  outlay  of  more  than  25  per  cent,  over  what  they  cost  in 
the  country  where  these  respective  manufactures  are  established, 
no  such  project  will  be  entered  on.  The  legislators  of  the  two 
countries,  have  hitherto  agreed  with  our  author,  that,  as  it  is  the 
maxim  of  every  pmdent  master  of  a  family,  never  to  make  at 
home  what  it  will  cost  him  more  to  make  than  to  buy  ;  what  is 
prudence  in  tlie  conduct  of  every  private  family  can  scarce  be 
folly  in  that  of  a  great  kingdom  ;  and  that,  whether  the  advan- 
tages which  one  country  has  over  another  be  natural  or  acquired, 
is  of  no  consequence,  it  being  an  acquired  advantage  only,  which 
one  artificer  has  over  his  neighbor,  who  exercises  another  trade, 
though  they  both  find  it  for  their  advantage,  rather  to  buy  of  one 
another,  than  to  make  what  does  not  belong  to  their  peculiar  trade. 
Acting  on  these  principles,  they  have  thought  it  improper  to  make 
any  alteration  in  the  system. 

About  this  time  however  a  change  takes  place  in  their  opin- 
ions, and  they  begin  to  think,  that  as,  though  it  would  not  be 
very  prudent  in  the  tailor,  that  he  might  have  his  shoes  made  in 
his  own  workshop  instead  of  his  neighbors,  to  set  about  making 
them  himself,  or  the  shoemaker,  for  the  same  reason,  to  set  about 

10 


74  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

making  his  own  coat,  yet,  if  there  were  a  town  in  which  there 
were  no  shoemakers,  but  more  than  enough  of  tailors,  and  another, 
a  dozen  miles  off,  in  which  there  were  no  tailors,  but  more  than 
enough  of  shoemakers,  it  would  be  a  beneficial  change  for  some 
of  the  tailors  to  remove  to  the  one  town,  and  some  of  the  shoe- 
makers to  the  other,  that  the  inhabitants  of  both  might  have  the 
articles  fabricated  by  these  different  sorts  of  tradesmen,  made  at 
home,  that  is,  within  their  respective  towns,  ■ —  so,  two  countries, 
of  which  the  one  made  no  hats,  and  the  other  no  silk  goods, 
might  mutually  benefit  by  the  introduction  of  the  manufacture 
in  which  each  was  deficient,  the  inhabitants  of  each  in  like  man- 
ner as  the  inhabitants  of  each  town,  having  that  provided  at  home, 
which  they  must  otherwise  go  abroad  for,  and  thus  being  saved 
like  them,  the  expense  and  inconvenience  of  transportation. 

Though  such  a  change,  in  either  case,  could  not  be  brought 
about  without  expense,  and  though  "  its  immediate  effect  would 
therefore  be  to  diminish  the  revenue  of  the  society,"  yet,  as  after 
a  certain  time,  it  would  be  likely  that  the  new  manufacture  would 
be  made  at  home  in  each  case  "  as  cheap  or  cheaper  than 
abroad,"  its  ultimate  effect  would  be,  more  than  proportionably, 
to  increase  the  revenues  of  both  towns  and  both  countries. 

Acting  on  these  new  views,  the  legislators  of  both  countries, 
about  the  same  time,  commence  encouraging  the  manufactures 
in  which  their  respective  countries  are  deficient ;  and,  by  means 
of  a  system  of  premiums,  bounties,  and  duties,  on  the  detail  of 
which  it  is  unnecessary  to  enter,  in  the  course  of  years,  succeed 
so  far,  that  silk  goods  come  actually  to  be  fabricated  in  the 
country  where  no  silk  goods  were  manufactured,  as  cheaply  as 
where  they  were  exclusively  manufactured,  and  hats  to  be  made, 
where  no  hats  were  made,  as  cheaply  as  where  hats  were  ex- 
clusively made.  Part  of  the  capital  and  industry  which  went  in 
the  one  case  to  the  manufacture  of  hats,  goes  to  manufacture 
silk  goods,  and,  in  the  other  case,  part  of  the  capital  and  industry 
which  went  to  manufacture  silk  goods,  goes  to  manufacture  hats. 
Both  countries  produce  that  at  home,  which  they  before  imported 
from  abroad,  and  are  therefore  saved  the  expense  attending  that 
importation. 

Completely  to  effect  this  change  requires  an  outlay,  in  both 
cases,  of  £1,000,000.  Being  effected  however,  it  of  course 
saves  each  country  the  expense  of  transport,  which,  at  25  per 


ARE  NOT  IDEiNTICAL.  75 

cent,  on  the  imported  goods,  makes  an  annual  saving  of  its  ex- 
penditure, and  increase  therefore  of  its  revenue,  of  £400,000, 
so  that,  in  two  or  three  years  time,  the  sum  expended  is  repaid, 
and  each  community  supphed  with  a  new  fund  to  furnish  addi- 
tional comforts  to  its  members,  or  to  add  to  their  capital. 
According  to  our  author's  tenets,  this  proceeding  of  both  legisla- 
tors, although  admitted  to  be  practicable,  is  yet  held  to  be  ne- 
cessarily, and  in  its  very  nature,  injurious. 

Although  it  can  seldom  happen,  that  two  countries  are  so 
circumstanced  that  both,  according  to  our  supposition,  can  ben- 
efit equally  by  the  effecting  of  such  a  change,  yet,  if  one  effect 
such  a  change,  as  far  as  that  country  is  concerned  it  would  seem 
to  be  beneficial,  on  a  simple  calculation  of  expense  and  gain, 
provided  the  saving  of  revenue  produced  by  it,  is  greater  than 
the  expenditure  of  revenue  necessary  for  producing  it.  It  is  this  end 
which  the  legislator  generally  aims  at  reaching  by  the  regulations 
he  imposes  on  the  trade  and  industry  of  the  society,  and  which,  by 
these  means,  he  often  arrives  at.  Yet,  even  when  in  such  cases 
successful,  our  author  maintains,  that  his  proceedings  are  neces- 
sarily, and  essentially  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  the  society. 
That,  even  though  they  may  cause  a  commodity  to  be  produced 
at  home,  cheaper  than  abroad,  they  must  diminish,  instead  of 
augmenting,  the  national  revenue  and  riches.  A  conclusion  so 
extraordinary,  is  arrived  at  by  a  process  of  reasoning  as  extra- 
ordinary. It  is  come  to  by  setting  out  from  it.  Two  general 
axioms,  somewhat  ambiguous  and  vague,  are  assumed  as  truths.  As 
usually  happens  to  all  other  axioms  employed  in  general  reasoning, 
and  capable  of  conveying  two  senses,  they  are  granted  in  the  one 
sense,  and  applied  in  the  other.  We  assent  to  the  propositions, "  the 
industry  of  the  society  can  augment  only  in  proportion  as  its  capital 
augments,  and  its  capital  can  augment  only  in  proportion  to  what 
can  be  gradually  saved  out  of  its  revenue,"  because  we  see,  that 
the  augmentation  of  industry  and  capital,  the  saving  from  rev- 
enue and  increase  of  capital,  are  concomitants  of  each  other;  we 
perceive  not,  that  in  the  application  of  these  propositions,  the 
sense  in  which  we  assented  to  them  is  abandoned,  and  that  the 
augmentation  of  the  capital  of  the  society  is  assumed  as  the 
cause,  and  the  sole  cause  of  the  increase  of  its  industry,  and 
the  saving  fi-om  revenue,  as  the  cause,  and  the  sole  cause,  of  the 
augmentation  of  its  capital.     Whereas,   from  the  observation  of 


76  INDIVIDUAL  AND  NATIONAL  INTERESTS 

the  increase  of  the  productiveness  of  national  industry,  and  of 
the  amount  of  national  capital,  going  on  in  general  together,  we 
may  at  least  as  justly  infer  that  it  is  the  industry  which  augments 
the  capital,  as  the  capital  the  industry,  and  rather  come  to  the 
conclusion,  that  part  of  the  national  resources  should  be  employed 
in  giving  perfection  to  the  industry  of  the  society  than  that  they 
should  be  altogether  devoted  to  attempts  to  increase  its  capital. 
In  fact,  as  capital,  according  to  Adam  Smith  himself,  is  only 
valuable  for  the  addition  it  makes  to  the  efficiency  of  the  national 
industry,  and,  as  that  efficiency  is  also,  according  to  him,  mainly 
dependent  on  the  skill,  dexterity,  and  judgment,  with  which  it  is 
applied,  an  expenditure  of  capital  or  revenue,  having  the  effect 
of  increasing  the  national  skill,  dexterity,  and  judgment,  would 
seem  to  be  the  most  judicious  possible,  seeing  it  directly  increases 
those  sources  of  production,  from  the  indirect  addition  that  it 
makes  to  which,  capital  is  said  to  derive  its  sole  value. 

It  has  been  my  endeavor  to  show,  in  the  preceding  examina- 
tion of  the  system  of  Adam  Smith,  that  the  doctrine  there  main- 
tained, of  the  expediency  of  the  legislator's  abstaining  from  any 
attempt  to  give  increased  efficiency  to  the  industry  of  the  society 
by  encouraging  the  growth  of  domestic  arts  or  the  importation  of 
foreign,  founded  on  the  supposition  of  the  perfect  identity  of  the 
means  which  add  to  the  wealth  of  individuals  and  nations,  is 
erroneous. 

1.  That  the  reasonings  which  make  it  assume  the  form  of  a 
self-evident  principle,  have  their  foundation  in  the  ambiguities  of 
language  alone,  and  that,  in  reality,  the  presumption  is  against, 
not  for  it. 

2.  That  viewed  as  a  consequence  of  the  theory  of  the  accu- 
mulation of  capital,  the  division  of  labor,  and  the  improvements 
resulting  from  the  action  and  reaction  of  these  principles  on  each 
other,  the  judgment  we  form  of  it  must  be  altogether  determined 
by  the  probable  accuracy  of  the  principles  on  which  that  theory 
proceeds,  and  by  its  coincidence  with  facts  ;  that  granting,  for  the 
present,  the  apparent  probability  of  the  theoretical  principles 
themselves,  they  nevertheless  do  not  agree  with  the  phenomena; 
that  there  is  a  class  of  admitted  facts,  which  they  not  only  do  not 
explain,  but  to  which  they  are  in  opposition ;  that  the  increase  of 
the  wealth  of  every  community  is  acknowledged  to  be  dependent, 


ARE  NOT  IDENTICAL.  77 

not  only  on  the  accumulation  of  capital  and  division  of  labor 
among  its  members,  but  also  on  the  progress  of  arts  in  other 
communities,  and  their  subsequent  transfer  to  it ;  that  to  effect 
this  transfer,  a  measure  admitted  to  be  all-important  to  the  pros- 
perity of  the  community,  the  efforts  of  individuals  are  insufficient, 
that,  in  his  endeavors  to  prove  that  the  legislator  ought  not  here 
to  interfere,  Adam  Smith  runs  into  inconsistencies  and  contradic- 
tions, and  that  there  hence  arises  a  proof  of  the  inapplicability  of 
his  doctrine  to  events  of  this  order,  and  a  strong  presumption  of 
the  existence  of  some  fundamental  error  in  the  general  principles 
of  his  system. 


BOOK    II. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK,  AND  OF  THE  LAAVS  GOVERNING  ITS   INCREASE 

AND  DIMINUTION. 


INTRODUCTION, 


DuGALD  Stewart  prefaces  the  observations  he  makes  on  Adam 
Smith's  great  work,  with  the  following  remarks  :  "  An  historical 
review  of  the  different  forms  under  which  human  affairs  have  ap- 
peared in  different  ages  and  nations,  naturally  suggests  the  question, 
whether  the  experience  of  former  times  may  not  now  furnish  some 
general  principles  to  enlighten  and  direct  the  policy  of  future 
legislators  r  The  discussion,  however,  to  which  this  question  leads, 
is  of  singular  difficulty  ;  as  it  requires  an  accurate  analysis  of  by 
far  the  most  comphcated  class  of  phenomena  that  can  possibly 
engage  our  attention,  those  which  result  from  the  intricate  and 
often  the  imperceptible  mechanism  of  political  society ;  —  a  subject 
of  observation  which  seems,  at  first  view,  so  little  commensurate 
to  our  faculties,  that  it  has  been  generally  regarded  with  the  same 
passive  emotions  of  Xvonder  and  submission  with  which,  in  the 
material  world,  we  survey  the  effects  produced  by  the  mysterious 
and  uncontrollable  operation  of  physical  causes."  *  The  science 
of  Political  Economy  he  considers  as  a  part  of  this  great  subject. 

If  the  accuracy  of  these  observations  be  admitted,  as  I  think  it 
must,  the  inquiries  in  which  Political  Economy  engages,  lead  to  the 
investigation  of  the  general  principles  of  human  action,  and  it  is  to  be 
considered  but  as  a  branch  of  a  larger  science,  having  for  its  object, 
to  trace  the  laws  to  which  man  is  subject  as  a  moral  and  intellectual 
animal,  acted  on  by  the  system  of  things  existmg  in  the  world,  and 
acting,  in  turn  on  them,  to  explain  from  those  laws  the  events  which 
his  past  history,  as  far  as  known,  exhibits,  and  to  collect  the  means 
of  ascertaining  what  will  be  the  future  course  of  it.  While  to  be 
able  clearly  to  unfold  the  laws  regulating  the  events  with  which  it 
deals  would  imply  the  capacity  of  tracing  those  regulating  the 
whole  system  of  phenomena  of  which  man  is  the  centre,  just  as 
to  explain  with  accuracy  the  laws  regulating  the  motions  of  one  of 
the  heavenly  bodies,  implies  the  knowledge  of  principles  capable 
of  disclosing  the  prescribed  movements  of  them  all. 

*  Life  of  Smith. 


INTRODUCTION  TO  BOOK  II.  79 

I  have  already  observed,  that  the  subject  first  met  me  when 
engaged  in  the  mvestigation  of  some  principles  which  I  conceived 
might  in  time  assume  a  form  capable  of  a  general  application  of 
the  sort.  To  attempt  here  an  extensive  generalization  of  this 
kind  would  be  out  of  place,  and  is  impracticable,  because  of 
necessity  only  a  small  portion  of  the  phenomena  are  before  us. 
Political  Economy  itself  makes  but  a  part  of  the  subject  to  which 
such  generalizations  belong,  and  it  is  only  one  division  of  political 
economy  of  which  we  are  to  treat.  It  has  usually  been  discussed 
under  the  heads  of  stock,  wages  of  labor,  and  rent,  and  it  is  to  the 
first  of  these  that  our  investigations  are  to  be  altogether  confined. 
It  is  only  therefore  in  such  parts  of  the  subject  as  present  a  suffi-. 
cient  mass  of  phenomena,  to  warrant  the  procedure,  that  I  shall 
attempt  to  introduce  any  very  general  principles.  In  other  cases 
1  will  confine  myself  to  the  simple  statement  of  facts  admitted  by 
all  parties. 


CHAPTER    I. 


IT  IS  CHARACTERISTIC  OF  MAN  TO  PROVIDE  FOR  THE  WANTS  OF  THE 
FUTURE,  BY  THE  FORMATION  OF  INSTRUMENTS;  AND  HIS  POWER  TO 
MAKE  THIS  PROVISION,  IS  MEASURED,  BY  THE  EXTENT  AND  ACCURACY 
OF  HIS  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  COURSE  OF  NATURAL  EVENTS. 

Cicero  gives  the  following  summary  of  the  principles  exciting 
man  to  action,  and  of  the  mode  in  which  they  lead  him  to  act : 

"  inter  hominem  et  beluam  hoc  maxime  interest,  quod  haec 

tantum,  quantum  sensu  movetur,  ad  id  solum,  quod  adest,  quod- 
que  praesens  est,  se  accommodat,  paullulum  admodum  sentiens 
prasteritum,  aut  futurum.  Homo  autem,  quod  rationis  est  par- 
ticeps,  per  quam  consequentia  cernit,  causas  rerum  videt,  earum- 
que  progressus,  et  quasi  antecessiones  non  ignorat,  similitudines 
comparat,  et  rebus  praesentibus  adjungit  atque  annectit  futuras  : 
facile  totius  vitae  cursum  videt,  ad  eamque  degendam  praeparet 
res  necessarias.  Eademque  natura  vi  rationis  hominem  conciliat 
homini  et  ad  orationis,  et  ad  vitae  societatem  :  Ingeneratque  in 
primis  praecipuum  quendam  amorem  in  eos,  qui  procreati  sunt : 
irapellitque,  ut  hominum  coetus,  et  celebrationes,  esse,  et  a  se 
obiri  velit :  oh  easque  causas  studeat  parare  ea,  quae  suppeditent 
et  ad  cultum,  et  ad  victum  :  nee  sibi  soli,  sed  conjugi,  liberis, 
ceterisque,  quos  caros  habeat,  tuerique  debeat." 

"  The  chief  distinction  betweem  man  and  the  inferior  animals 
consists  in  this.  They  are  moved  only  by  the  immediate  im- 
pressions of  sense,  and,  as  its  impulses  prompt,  seek  to  gratify 
them  from  the  objects  before  them,  scarce  regarding  the  future, 
or  endeavoring  from  the  experience  of  the  past  to  provide  against 
what  is  to  come.  Man  again,  as  he  is  endowed  with  reason,  by 
which  he  is  able  to  connect  effects  with  their  causes,  to  perceive 
the  principles  which  guide  the  progress  of  affairs,  and  to  join  to- 
gether the  present  and  the  future,  easily  discerns  the  course  of 
his  whole  life  and  prepares  whatever  may  be  necessary  for  pass- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  Ql 

ing  it  in  comfort.  The  same  intellectual  powers  also,  which 
nature  has  bestowed  on  him,  give  scope  to  his  affections,  and 
join  him  to  his  fellows  by  the  ties  that  spring  from  language  and 
the  connexions  of  social  life.  It  is  from  this  source  that  we  must 
trace  his  peculiar  provident  love  for  his  offspring,  his  concern 
for  the  interests  of  society,  and  his  desire  to  mingle  in  its  business 
and  pleasures. 

"  From  these  principles  it  is  that  man  is  incited  and  enabled 
to  provide  beforehand  whatever  may  be  requisite  both  for  utility 
and  ornament,  noi  only  to  himself  but  to  his  wife,  his  children, 
and  all  others  who  may  be  dear  to  him,  or  vv^hom  it  may  be  his 
duty  to  protect." 

It  is  unquestionably  the  capacity  for  perceiving,  and  retaining 
in  his  mind,  the  course  of  events  and  the  connexion  of  one  with 
another,  that  leads  man  to  perceive  what  advancing  futurity  is  to 
bring  forth,  and  enables  him  to  provide  for  its  wants.  This  pro- 
vident forethought  distinguishes  him  from  the  inferior  animals, 
and  the  degree  in  which  he  possesses  it  marks  his  rank  in  the 
scale  of  civilization. 

When  he  has  gained  any  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  things 
around  him,  he  finds  many  that  satisfy  more  or  less  perfectly  his 
present  wants.  He  knows  also  that  if  he  live  to  see  the  future 
he  will  then  have  similar  wants  and  desires.  Some  of  the  things 
satisfying  his  desires  and  wants  exist  abundantly ;  others,  sparingly 
or  imperfectly.  If  he  regard  the  future,  he  must  wish  that  those 
things  of  which  he  now  can  only  obtain  enough  to  satisfy  his 
wants  sparingly  and  imperfectly,  should  exist  then,  so  as  that  he 
might  be  able  to  obtain  them  to  satisfy  those  wants  abundantly 
and  perfectly. 

His  faculties  of  observation  and  reason  generally  give  him  the 
power  of  effecting  this.  For  these  objects  of  his  desires  are  mere 
arrangements  of  matter.  His  faculties  of  observation  show  him 
their  nature,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  train  of  events  going 
on  amongst  them  succeed  each  other.  He  perceives  that  the 
things  which  are  the  objects  of  his  present  wants,  or  which  were 
of  those  he  felt  a  little  time  since,  and  which  will  probably  be  of 
those  he  will  feel  in  future,  are  either  the  immediate  result  of  the 
nature  and  form  of  some  things  around  him,  or  of  the  trains  of 
events  which,  in  consequence  of  that  form  and  nature,  are  taking 
place  among  them.     He  cannot  alter  the  nature  of  things,  but, 

11 


82  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

in  many  cases,  he  is  able  to  change  their  form,  that  is,  the  par- 
ticular arrangement  of  the  matter  of  which  they  are  formed,  and 
his  reason  instructs  him,  that  if,  by  doing  this,  he  can  so  alter  the 
trains  of  events  proceeding  from  them  or  depending  on  them,  that 
they  may  either  fonn,  or  cause  to  be  formed,  or  put  in  his  pos- 
session, objects  fitted  to  supply  more  perfectly  or  abundantly  what 
probably  will  be  his  future  wants,  than  those  objects  would  other- 
wise exist,  he  then  is  able  to  provide  for  the  future.  This  in 
many  cases  he  can  do,  and  thus  he  acts. 

A  North  American  Indian  in  his  canoe  comes  to  an  island  in 
some  lake  or  river'  and  finds  near  it  a  good  station  for  fishino-. 
He  therefore  determines  to  remain  there  for  the  fishing;  season. 
Towards  evening  he  paddles  his  canoe  to  shore,  lands,  kindles  a 
fire  near  a  large  tree,  wraps  his  blanket  about  him,  places  his  feet 
to  the  fire,  his  head  to  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  and  thus  prepares 
for  repose.  In  so  doing,  with  the  exception  of  kindling  the  fire, 
he  takes  advantage  simply  of  his  knowledge  of  the  nature  of 
the  things  around  him,  and  seeks  from  them  the  best  supply  they 
can  give  him  of  what  he  wants,  that  is,  of  shelter  from  wind  and 
weather. 

It  rains  and  blows  during  the  night,  the  tree  shelters  hini 
somewhat,  but  still  he  gets  cold  and  wet.  In  the  morning  he 
spends  some  hours  providing  a  better  shelter  against  the  incle- 
mency of  any  such  night  in  future.  Of  branches  and  bark  he 
makes  something  like  one  half  of  the  roof  of  a  house,  only  much 
smaller,  the  open  side  being  towards  the  south  and  the  fire,  the 
sloping  side  towards  the  north  from  whence  comes  cold  and  rain. 
Thus,  though  he  cannot  prevent  the  wind  from  blowing,  or  the 
rain  from  falling,  his  knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
trains  of  events  forming  these  phenomena  succeed  each  other,  or 
if  you  will,  his  knowledge  of  the  laws  which  regulate  their  mo- 
tions, instruct  him  so  to  direct  them,  that  the  one  shall  not  blow, 
or  the  other  fall,  on  a  particular  spot,  which  he  knows  he  may 
at  some  future  time  wish  to  remain  calm  and  dry.  This  time 
may  be  distant,  for  it  may  not  rain  or  blow  so  as  to  inconvenience 
him  for  a  week  or  two,  nevertheless  to  provide  against  it  he 
gives  a  good  many  hours  present  labor. 

Next  evening,  before  going  to  repose,  he  finds  the  turf  damp 
from  the  rain  of  the  former  night.  He  looks  for  an  elm  tree, 
cuts  off  a  piece  of  its  strong  thick  bark  large  enough  for  him  to 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  83 

sleep  on,  covers  it  with  the  soft  branches  and  leaves  of  the  white 
pine,  and  forms  a  dry  and  soft  bed  for  himself.  Thus  his  know- 
ledo-e  of  the  materials  around  him  enables  him  to  form  what  he 
wants,  a  dry  and  soft  place  of  repose. 

In  this  island  he  discovers  a  small  wild  plumb  tree,  he  relishes 
the  fmit,  but  there  is  little  of  it.  Resolving  to  return  in  succeeding 
seasons  he  lops  the  branches  of  the  surrounding  trees  to  give  this 
room  to  spread,  and  expects  thus  to  find  next  year  a  more  abundant 
crop.*  Here  his  knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  trees  and 
fruit  grow  and  thrive,  or  his  knowledge  of  the  order  of  the  trains 
of  events  which  tenninate  in  the  full  developement  of  the  tree  and 
abundance  of  its  fruit,  enables  him  so  to  work  on  the  matters 
around  him,  as  to  occasion  them  to  produce  more  abundantly  next 
season,  than  they  have  this,  what  then  he  will  desire. 

He  thinks  not  of  providing  for  any  future  want  the  means  to 
supply  which,  will,  without  this,  exist  in  sufficient  abundance. 
Thus  water,  in  such  a  situation,  he  knows  he  will  always  be  sur- 
rounded with.  Were  the  same  Indian  encamped  in  the  w^oods, 
by  a  very  scanty  spring,  he  would  dam  it  up,  and  cover  it  with 
bi'anches  so  as  to  keep  cool  a  quantity  of  water  for  his  future  occa- 
sions. 

The  proceedings  of  man  are  every  where  similar-.  He  has 
always  an  end  in  view,  he  employs  means  to  effect  this  end,  and 
there  is  a  manner  throusfh  which  he  effects  it.  The  end  is  a 
supply  for  future  wants  ;  the  means,  the  bringing  about  of  such 
events  as  may  serve  to  supply  them  ;  the  manner,  a  knowledge 
of  the  qualities  with  wiiicli  nature  has  endowed  the  materials 
within  his  reach,  of  the  series  of  events  in  consequence  arising 
among  them,  and  an  application  of  this  knowledge  to  produce, 
through  his  corporeal  powers,  such  an  arrangement  of  these  mate- 
rials, as  may  so  change  the  issues  of  events  that  would  otherwise 
have  place,  as  to  bring  about  those  which  he  desires.  It  is  true, 
that,  in  most  instances,  men  simply  copy  the  proceedings  of  others, 
and  think  not  of  the  principles  on  which  they  conduct  their  opera- 
tions, nor  of  the  observations  from  which  these  must  originally 
have  been  deduced.  But,  though  the  knowledge  thus  acquired 
from  this  storing  of  observations,  and  deduction  of  principles  from 

*  This  is  a  possible  supposition,  but  it  is  more  probable  he  would  neglect 
it,  perhaps  cut  it  down  for  the  sake  of  reaching  more  easily  the  fruit  it  carried. 


84  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

them,  is  not  the  mode  in  which  individual  men  operate,  it  is  the 
mode  in  which  the  operations  they  carry  on  must  have  been  first 
brought  into  practice,  and  on  which  they  are  all  founded. 

We  may  easily  satisfy  ourselves  of  this,  by  turning  our  atten- 
tion to  the  manner  in  which  any  of  the  articles  we  use  for  the 
supply  of  our  wants  has  been  formed.  Bread  may  be  an  example. 
A  farmer,  some  two  years  ago,  made  choice  of  a  particular  field 
for  the  cultivation  of  wheat.  Had  he  been  asked  why  he  did  so, 
he  could  have  stated  the  different  circumstances  in  the  soil,  and 
the  previous  crops  that  it  had  carried,  which  had  thus  determined 
him.  By  ploughing  and  harrowing  it  a  sufficient  number  of  times, 
he  thoroughly  broke,  and  pulverized  the  land.  This  he  did,  be- 
cause he  knew,  from  observations  he  or  others  had  made,  that  in 
this  state  the  seed  he  intended  to  deposite  there  would,  when  it 
came  to  germinate,  more  easily  spread  its  roots  around,  and  draw 
nourishment  from  among  the  particles  of  earth  amidst  which  it 
w^ould  grow.  He  allowed  a  considerable  time  to  elapse  between 
the  several  operations,  that  the  weeds  might  have  time  to  spring 
up,  and  be  destroyed.  Thus  he  knew  they  would  be  prevented 
from  afterwards  injuring  the  growth  of  the  crop.  He  also  spread 
over  the  field,  and  covered  in,  a  quantity  of  manure,  because  ex- 
perience had  taught  that  this  substance  gives  vigor  to  vegetation. 
He  then  sowed  the  seed,  in  the  mode,  and  quantity,  and  at  the 
time,  which  observation  had  instructed  him  was  the  best,  covered 
it  with  a  harrow,  and  waited  the  harvest.  When  he  perceived 
the  grain  sufficiently  ripe,  he  cut  it  down  with  an  iron  hook 
having  a  form  and  edge  which  experience  had  ascertained  to  be 
best  adapted  for  this  purpose,  made  it  into  bundles,  exposed 
them  to  the  sun  and  air  so  that  they  might  be  dried,  when  this 
was  effected,  conveyed  them  to  his  barn  and  stored  them  there. 
Having  lain  there  some  time,  the  grain  was  separated  from  the 
straw  by  the  process  of  threshing,  it  was  then  carried  to  the 
granary,  where,  having  been  kept  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period, 
it  was  thence  taken  to  the  mill,  and,  by  a  very  ingenious  process, 
reduced  to  small  particles,  and  then  separated  by  another  pro- 
cess into  three  parts,  of  which  the  finest  part,  the  interior  of  the 
grain  called  flour,  being  packed  in  sacks  or  barrels,  was  preserved 
for  use.  A  certain  portion  of  this,  mixed  with  a  particular  fer- 
ment, wrought  with  the  hand  and  exposed  to  the  action  of  fire, 
became  bread. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  95 

It  is  very  evident,  that  all  the  steps  of  these  various  processes 
depend  on  a  knowledge  of  the  conrse  of  natural  events,  and  are 
regulated  by  that  knowledge.  A  long  series  of  observations  of 
this  sort,  and  of  reasonings  deduced  from  them,  could  alone  have 
enabled  the  farmer  to  prepare  the  ground  properly  for  the  seed, 
or,  after  the  grain  had  come  to  maturity,  to  preserve  it,  to  sep- 
arate it  from  the  straw,  and  fit  it  for  being  converted  into  flour. 
The  observations  on  the  trains  of  events  connected  with  the  pro- 
duction of  this  grain  that  have  been  committed  to  writing,  fill 
many  large  volumes,  and  besides  these,  every  farmer  is  obliged 
to  have  a  great  store  of  his  own,  to  guide  him  in  his  proceedings. 
Thus,  in  the  single  process  of  cutting  down  and  storing  up  this 
crop,  his  success  in  securing  it  uninjured  depends  on  observing 
and  noting  well  a  great  variety  of  particulars.  He  observes  the 
plant  carefully,  and  discovers,  from  the  appearance  of  every  part, 
from  the  dryness  of  the  stem,  the  drooping  of  the  ears,  the  ful- 
ness of  the  grain,  if  it  be  in  a  proper  state  to  cut  down.  If  he 
make  any  error  in  this,  he  will  either  have  unripe,  and  therefore 
shrivelled  and  light  grain,  or  he  will  lose  great  part  of  it  by  its 
being  shaken  off  the  stem  in  harvesting  it.  Next,  before  he 
determine  on  commencing  the  operation,  he  regards  the  aspect 
of  the  sky,  watches  the  rising  and  setting  sun,  notes  the  color  of 
the  air,  the  appearance  of  the  clouds,  the  direction  of  the  wind, 
the  dew  on  the  grass,  and  perhaps  has  recourse  to  that  delicate 
instrument,  the  fruit  of  so  many  ingenious  observations,  the 
barometer.  By  means  of  all  these,  he  is  enabled  to  draw 
tolerably  correct  conclusions,  in  regard  to  the  probable  state  of 
the  weather  for  some  succeeding  days.  This  knowledge  influ- 
ences greatly  his  farther  operations  ;  for  experience  has  taught 
him  that  the  injury  which  severe  rains,  coming  on  the  grain 
when  newly  reaped,  would  occasion,  is  very  great.  If,  there- 
fore, the  weather  promise  to  be  fine,  he  will  commence  cutting 
it  down  a  few  days  sooner  than  he  otherwise  would ;  if  rain 
threaten  he  will  wait  a  few  days  longer.  When  he  has  it  reaped 
he  gets  it  tied  into  bundles,  which  are  put  up  in  small  parcels, 
and  so  disposed,  that  the  w-ind  may  penetrate  through  them,  and 
the  rain  be  as  much  thrown  off"  from  them  as  possible,  and  thus 
the  plant  may  have  the  best  chance  of  being  securely  and  quickly 
dried. 

This  drying  is  watched  with  care,  and,  when   it  is  judged  to 


SQ  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

be  sufficiently  advanced,  the  crop  is  transported  to  the  bam, 
there  to  wait  till  the  proper  period  of  threshing  it  out  arrives. 
All  these  processes  are,  it  is  evident,  governed  by  rules  drawn 
from  assiduous  and  long  continued  observation,  and  their  success 
depends  on  its  extent  and  accuracy. 

Were  we  to  examine  the  manner  in  which  all  the  articles  that 
we  provide  for  the  supply  of  future  wants  are  produced,  we 
should  find  that  they  depend,  in  this  way,  on  observations  on  the 
course  of  events,  and  on  reasonings  founded  on  these  observa- 
tions. Were  proof  wanting  of  this,  we  might  turn  at  hazard  to 
any  complete  treatise  on  any  art.  On  examining  it,  we  would 
invariably  find  it  to  contain  a  set  of  observations,  the  result  of 
experience,  and  of  reasonings,  and  rules,  drawn  from  these  ob- 
servations. 

Since  then  man  provides  a  supply  for  his  future  wants  by  his 
reason  directing  his  industry,  through  means  of  his  knowledge  of 
the  course  of  events,  to  effect  such  changes  in  the  form  or 
arrangement  of  the  parts  of  material  objects,  that  these  may  pro- 
duce articles  fitted  to  afford  this  supply,  it  were  desirable  to  have 
some  common  name  to  denote  all  the  changes,  which,  for  this 
purpose,  he  so  makes.  On  this  account  I  propose  to  give  the 
denomination  of  instruments  to  all  those  changes  that,  for  this 
purpose  are  made  in  the  form  or  arrangement  of  the  parts  of 
material  objects. 

The  term  instrument  is,  in  general,  properly  enough  employed, 
to  denote  any  means  for  the  attainment  of  some  end.  In  com- 
mon use,  however,  and  as  applied  to  material  things,  it  seems  to 
be  restricted  to  such  arrangements  of  matter  as  owe  their  chief 
efficacy  to  what  are  called  the  mechanic  powers.  Thus  a  lever 
or  a  wedge  is  an  instrument,  the  manner  in  which  each  of  them 
operate  being  chiefly  explained  on  mathematical  principles.  A 
spade,  which  is  a  combination  of  the  two,  is  also  an  instrument. 
The  tools  which  carpenters  use  are  instruments.  We  speak  in 
the  same  way  of  instruments  of  husbandry,  meaning  by  the 
phrase  the  articles  used  in  that  art,  whose  properties  may  be 
explained  on  mechanical  principles. 

In  all  these  cases,  however,  other  principles  than  those  which 
are  merely  mathematical  must  enter  into  our  calculations.  In 
the  simplest  lever,  we  have  not  only  the  properties  of  a  mathe- 
matical line  to  consider,  but  also,  the  weight  and  strength  of  the 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  QT 

substance  used,  and  these  make  the  difficulty  in  the  proper  ap- 
plication of  such  an  instrument.  A  wedge  operates  in  many 
ways,  besides  those  that  may  be  considered  to  be  derived  simply 
from  mathematical  principles  ;  as  for  instance  in  the  percussion^ 
which  it  receives  and  communicates,  and  through  means  of  which, 
if  skilfully  applied,  the  most  solid  rocks  may  be  rent.  The  far- 
ther we  recede  from  such  simple  instruments,  the  more  extensive 
do  we  find  the  action  of  properties,  which  could  only  be  ascer- 
tained by  a  long  series  of  observations.  It  would  be  impossible, 
for  instance,  to  give  any  a  priori  rules  for  the  construction  of 
that  most  useful  instrument  the  plough.  It  is,  no  doubt,  a  wedge, 
but  the  particular  form  giving  the  greatest  efficacy  to  it,  is  a  point 
of  very  difficult  determination,  not  yet,  perhaps,  fully  ascertained. 
It  is  accurate  observation  that  has  guided  the  construction  of  it, 
to  its  present  efficiency,  and  which  may  be  expected  to  render  it 
still  more  perfect. 

Were  we  to  enter  into  an  examination  of  more  complicated 
machines  or  instruments,  such  as  the  steam  engine,  or  the  cotton 
mill,  the  observation  would  apply  with  double  force,  these  gen- 
erally deriving  their  efficiency  from  principles,  that  have  been 
the  result  of  very  extensive  and  accurate  investigations  of  many 
series  of  events.  In  thus  using  the  term,  therefore,  we  shall 
rather  deviate  somewhat  from  common  usage,  than  be  opposed 
to  it,  and  in  doing  so,  our  reasonings  w^ill  only  be  subject  to  an 
inconvenience,  to  which  all  general  reasonings  must  be  subject, 
and  which  may  be  the  more  readily  excused,  as  this  use  of  the 
term  may  be  defended  from  its  derivation,  its  occasional  accepta- 
tion, and  the  authority  of  authors  of  respectability.* 

In  general  then,  all  those  changes  which  man  makes,  in  the 
form  or  arrangements  of  the  parts  of  material  objects,  for  the 
purpose  of  supplying  his  future  wants,  and  which  derive  their 
power  of  doing  this  from  his  knowledge  of  the  course  of  events, 
and  the  changes  which  his  labor,  guided  by  his  reason,  is  hence 
enabled  to  make  in  the  issue  of  these  events,  may  be  termed 
instruments. 

In  this  sense  a  field  is  an  instrument.  The  changes  effected 
in  the  matters  of  which  it  is  composed,  for  the  purpose  of  render- 
ing it  an  instrument,  are  the  levelling  and  if  necessary  making 

Note  E. 


88  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

the  surface  dry  by  -means  of  ditches  and  drains,  the  removing 
stones  from  it,  the  mixing  and  pulverizing  the  soil  by  the  plough, 
the  harrow,  and  the  roller,  and  the  incorporating  with  it  various 
matters  termed  manures,  which  render  it  more  fit  for  the  support 
of  vegetable  life.  The  future  wants,  towards  the  supply  of  which 
it  is  an  instrument,  are  food  and  clothing.  The  power  which  has 
made  it  an  instrument,  is  the  agriculturist's  labor,  directed  by  his 
knowledge  of  the  nature  of  plants  and  soils.  The  change  made 
in  the  consequent  issue  of  events,  is  the  abundant  growth  of 
specieses  of  plants  different  from  those  originally  produced  by  it, 
and  conducing  to  the  supply  of  food  and  clothing,  or,  more  gen- 
erally, the  conversion  of  various  vegetable  matters  of  the  soil,  and 
gaseous  matters  in  the  air,  into  the  substance  of  particular  plants. 
The  wheat  grown  on  this  field  is  an  instrument.  The  changes 
effected  in  it,  are  its  having  been  separated  from  the  straw  by  the 
process  of  threshing,  and  its  having  been  made  sufficiently  dry  by 
keeping  and  exposure  to  air,  to  be  fit  to  manufacture  into  flour. 
The  want  it  tends  to  supply  is  nourishment,  by  affording  bran  for 
the  support  of  some  of  the  inferior  animals,  as  hogs  or  cattle, 
afterwards  to  be  slaughtered,  and  flour  for  the  use  of  man.  The 
power  is  also  the  art  and  industry  of  the  agriculturist.  The 
change  in  the  issue  of  events  consists  in  the  grain  being  ready  for 
the  manufacture  of  flour,  instead  of  having  been  left  to  rot  on  the 
ground,  to  be  consumed  by  vermin,  or  destroyed  by  the  access  of 
damp  or  by  the  want  of  air.  Flour  also  is  an  instrument.  The 
changes  that  have  been  effected  on  it  are  its  having  been  separ- 
ated from  the  wheat,  and  reduced  to  a  fine  powdery  matter.  The 
want  it  tends  to  supply  is  food  by  the  bread  produced  from  it. 
The  power,  which  has  operated  on  it,  is  the  art  and  industry  of 
the  miller.  The  change  in  the  issue  of  events  thereby  produced 
is  the  existence  of  flour  and  bran,  instead  of  wheat.  Bread,  until 
such  time  as  it  is  in  process  of  consumption,  is  an  instrument. 
The  change  which  it  has  undergone  is  that  induced  by  the  pro- 
cesses of  kneading,  fermenting,  and  baking.  The  want  it  supplies 
is  food.  The  power  which  has  operated  on  it  is  the  art  and  in- 
dustry of  the  baker.  The  change  on  the  issue  of  events  thereby 
produced  is  the  existence  of  bread,  instead  of  flour. 

Though  it  may  seem  strange  to  rank  all  these  in  one  class,  that 
of  instruments,  nevertheless,  the  doing  so  is  rather  unusual  than 
improper.     They  are  all  ineans  toward  the  attainment  of  an  end, 


OF  TPIE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  89 

and,  for  the  attainment  of  this  end,  that  is,  the  production  of 
bread,  do  they  alone  exist.  The  blade  as  it  springs  from  the 
soil,  and  the  soil  on  which  it  grows,  form  together  an  instrument 
for  this  end,  the  plant  when  it  has  extracted  all  the  nourishment 
from  the  soil  which  that  can  give,  and  is  ripe  on  the  ground,  is  an 
instrument ;  when  it  is  cut  and  put  up  sheltered  from  the  weather, 
it  is  still  an  instrument ;  so  is  the  grain  when  separated  from  it ; 
so  it  is  when  ground  in  the  mill ;  so  it  is  when  in  loaves,  put  apart 
for  consumption,  until  the  moment  arrives  when  it  is  consumed. 
It  is  impossible,  if  we  call  it  at  first  an  instmment,  to  point  out 
when  it  ceases  to  be  so,  until  the  moment  when  it  is  actually 
consuming. 

All  tools  and  machines  are  instruments.  Thus  a  carpenter's 
saw  is  an  instrument.  The  changes  effected  in  the  matters  of 
which  it  is  composed,  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  it  an  instru- 
ment, are,  there  having  been  given  a  fit  form  and  temper  to  the 
steel  plate  of  which  it  is  made  and  a  handle  having  been  adjusted 
to  it.  The  wants  which  it  tends  to  supply  are  multifarious,  ac- 
cording to  the  uses  to  which  it  is  put.  The  power  that  renders 
it  an  instrument  is  the  art  and  industry  of  him  who  makes,  and 
of  him  who  uses  it.  The  changes  effected  in  the  issue  of  ev^ents 
by  its  fabrication  and  use,  are  the  dividing  into  regular  parts  suited 
to  different  purposes,  a  great  number  of  pieces  of  timber. 

In  a  similar  manner  it  might  be  shown,  that  houses,  ships, 
cattle,  gardens,  household  furniture,  manufactories,  manufactured 
goods,  and  stores  of  all  sorts  are  in  this  sense,  instruments. 
But  it  is,  I  apprehend,  unnecessary  further  to  multiply  instances  ; 
every  thing  that  man,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  an  end,  brings 
to  exist,  or  alters  in  its  form,  its  position,  or  in  the  arrangement 
of  its  parts,  is  an  instrument. 

As  man  is  thus  enabled  to  provide  for  the  wants  of  futurity, 
by  his  knowledge  of  the  course  of  events,  it  naturally  follows, 
that  in  any  particular  situation,  his  power  to  provide  for  them,  is 
measured  by  the  extent  and  accuracy  of  his  knowledge.  If  that 
knowledge  be  diminished,  his  power  will  be  diminished.  Thus 
a  deficiency  of  skill  in  the  art  of  agriculture,  or  of  baking,  will 
alike  occasion  a  diminution  of  the  quantity  of  food  to  be  got  from 
a  field  applied  to  the  cultivation  of  wheat.  Neither  can  his 
power  be  increased,  but  by  an  increase  of  his  knowledge.  It  is 
impossible  to  point  out  any  improvement  in  any  art,  which  does 

12 


90  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

not    depend    on  some    new   observations,  or  reasonings,  on  the 
course  of  events  connected  with  that  art. 

The  generally  admitted  axiom,  that  knowledge  is  power,  may 
not  be  strictly  true.  Many  facts  have  been  observed  which  have 
not  yet  been  apphed  to  any  useful  purpose,  though  it  is  probable 
they  will,  in  time,  be  so  applied.  But,  though  it  may  not  be 
strictly  true,  that  all  knowledge  immediately  gives  power,  it  is  so, 
that  all  power  springs  from  knowledge,  and  is  measured  by  its 
extent  and  accuracy.  Neither  can  it  be  disputed,  that  it  operates 
by  enabhng  man's  reasoning  faculties,  so  to  direct  his  industry, 
as  to  induce  certain  changes  in  the  form  and  arrangement  of  the 
parts  of  material  objects  converting  them  into  instruments.  "  Ad 
opera  nil  aliud  potest  homo,  quam  ut  corpora  naturalia  admoveat 
et  amoveat ;  reliqua  natura  intus  transigit." 


CHAPTER  II 


OF  THE   CIRCUMSTANCES   COMMON   TO   ALL   INSTRUMENTS,   AND  OF  THOSE 

PROPER  TO  SOME. 

All  instruments  agree  in  the  following  three  particulars : 

1.  They  are  all  either  directly  formed  by  human  labor,  or 
indirectly  through  the  aid  of  other  instruments  themselves  formed 
by  human  labor. 

Sometimes,  though  rarely,  instruments  are  constructed  by  labor 
alone.  Thus  occasionally  rough  stone  fences  are  put  up,  by  the 
hand  alone,  without  the  intervention  of  even  a  single  tool.  But, 
in  most  instances,  the  aid  of  other  instruments  is  employed.  It 
is  seldom,  that  even  the  most  common  laborer  is  not  assisted  in 
his  operations  by  some  implement  or  another.  But,  whatever 
instrument  or  instruments  may  have  cooperated  with  labor  in  the 
formation  of  any  other  instrument,  they  themselves  have  been 
either  altogether,  or  in  part,  formed  by  labor  ;  and,  by  retracing 
the  course  of  things  farther  and  farther  back,  we  inevitably  come 
to  the  conclusion,  that  labor  was,  in  this  sense,  "  the  first  price, 
the  original  purchase  money  that  was  paid  for  all  things,"  and 
thus  that,  directly  or  indirectly,  it  is  to  be  looked  on  as  the  agent 
that  gives  form  to  every  instrument. 

For  the  sake  of  simplifying  the  succeeding  speculations,  as 
much  as  may  be,  labor  will  be  considered  as  the  agent  employed 
in  the  formation  of  all  instruments.  When  the  cooperation  of 
other  instruments  is  implied  in  the  means  by  which  any  particu- 
lar instrument  is  constructed,  the  degree  in  which  they  cooperate 
is  understood  to  be  measured  by  the  quantity  of  labor  for  which 
their'cooperation  is,  or  might  be,  procured  :  and,  in  this  sense, 
that  cooperation  is  spoken  of  as  an  equivalent  to  labor.  The 
rules,  according  to  which  the  one  thus  measures  the  other,  will 
be  discussed  subsequently. 


92        OF  THE  CIRCUMSTANCES  COMMON  AND  PROPER 

2.  All  instruments  bring  to  pass,  or  tend,  or  help,  to  bring  to 
pass  events  supplying  some  of  the  wants  of  man,  and  are  then 
exhausted. 

Some  instruments,  without  the  intervention  either  of  labor  or 
of  other  instruments,  produce  events  which  directly  supply  our 
wants.  Thus  a  peach  tree  yields  its  fruit  to  our  hand.  The 
operation  of  otliers  only  tends  to  the  production  of  events  supply- 
ing our  wants.  The  growth  of  a  crop  of  wheat  is  only  a  step 
towards  the  production  of  bread.  Others  require  the  help  of 
either  labor,  or  some  other  instrument.  A  row  boat  is  useless 
without  the  labor  of  the  man  who  plies  the  oar  ;  a  carriage,  with- 
out the  cooperation  of  the  horses  who  draw  it.  All  instruments, 
however,  either  produce,  or  contribute  to  the  production,  of  events 
supplying  some  of  our  wants.  Their  power  to  produce  such 
events,  or  the  amount  of  them  that  they  do  produce,  may  be 
termed  their  capacity. 

It  is  necessary  to  have  some  common  measure  for  the  purpose 
of  comparing  the  capacity  of  instruments  or  the  returns  that  are 
made  by  them,  with  the  labor  or  its  equivalents  that  went  to 
form  them.  For  this  purpose,  also,  labor  will  be  adopted,  and 
the  events  brought  to  pass  by  any  instrument  will  be  estimated 
by  the  amount  of  labor  to  which  they  are  esteemed  equivalent 
by  the  owner  of  the  instrument.  As  we  proceed,  it  will  appear, 
that  this  use  of  the  term  has  no  other  effect  than  that  of  giving 
distinctness  to  our  nomenclature.  Besides,  it  often  really  hap- 
pens, that  the  returns  made  by  instruments,  directly  compare  with 
labor,  because  they  directly  save  labor.  For  instance,  wooden 
or  metal  pipes  are  occasionally  used  to  conduct  water  from  a 
spring  to  some  dwelling-house.  Were  they  not  there,  the  water 
would  have  to  be  carried  within  the  dwelling  by  some  of  the 
domestics,  and  therefore  the  instrument  formed  by  the  pipes  may 
be  said  indifferently,  either  to  supply  a  certain  amount  of  water, 
or  save  a  certain  portion  of  labor. 

With  one  considerable  exception,  afterwards  to  be  noted,  all 
instruments  at  length  bring  to  pass,  or  aid  in  bringing  to  pass,  all 
the  events  which  they  can  bring,  or  can  help  to  bring  to  pass. 
I  shall  use  the  term  exhaustion,  to  denote  this  passage  of  things 
from  the  class  of  instruments,  into  things  which  are  not  instru- 
'  ments.  When  an  instrument  is  said  to  be  exhausted,  it  is  meant 
that  the  matters  of  which  it  was  composed  have  passed  out  of  the 
class  of  instruments  into  that  of  materials. 


TO  ALL  INSTRUMENTS.  93 

Sometimes  they  pass  from  the  one  class  to  the  other  suddenly. 
Thus,  articles  used  for  food  and  fuel,  bring  to  pass  all  the  events 
for  which  they  were  formed,  very  shortly.  The  appetite  of 
hunger  is  gratified,  and  heat  is  communicated  to  the  frame,  in  a 
few  minutes,  and  the  faggot  and  the  bread,  having  yielded  all 
the  nourishment  and  heat  stored  up  in  them,  then  cease  to  be 
instruments.  Gunpowder  brings  certain  events  to  an  issue 
instantaneously.  The  bullet  is  discharged,  and  the  rock  split, 
in  an  instant.  This  sudden  and  complete  exhaustion  of  the 
capacity  of  instruments  is  what  is  usually  termed  consumption. 
Sometimes  the  matters  of  which  instruments  are  formed  pass 
from  the  class  of  instruments  to  that  of  materials  by  degrees. 
Thus  tools  and  articles  of  wearing  apparel  are  in  use  for  a  long 
time  before  they  cease  to  be  instruments.  A  saw  may  be  in 
employment  for  years ;  a  hat  defends  the  head  for  months. 
When  the  capacity  of  instruments  is  thus  gradually  exhausted, 
it  is  usually  said  that  they  are  worn  out,  and  this  sort  of  exhaus- 
tion is  termed  wear. 

Sometimes  the  capacity  of  instruments  is  accidentally  done 
away  with,  and  they  consequently  pass  out  of  the  class  of  instru- 
ments, without  being  exhausted.  Thus  a  house  may  be  burned, 
cloth  may  be  eaten  by  vermin.  They  are  then  said  to  be  destroyed. 
A  partial  degree  of  this  is  damage.  In  calculating  the  capacity 
of  instruments,  it  is  necessary  to  reckon  the  risk  they  run  of 
destruction  or  damage.  In  any  estimation  of  the  capacity,  for 
instance,  of  a  crop  of  wheat,  we  have  to  make  as  accurate  an 
allowance  as  may  be,  for  the  risk  of  its  destruction  or  damage, 
by  the  inclemency  of  the  weather  or  other  accidents,  before  the 
harvesting  of  it  be  accomplished. 

3.  Between  the  formation  and  exhaustion  of  instruments  a 
space  of  time  intervenes.  This  necessarily  happens  because  all 
events  take  place  in  time.  Sometimes  that  space  extends  to 
years,  sometimes  to  months,  occasionally  to  shorter  periods,  but  it 
always  exists. 

The  circumstances  we  have  hitherto  assumed  as  common  to 
all  instruments,  and  the  events  they  generate,  will,  I  beheve,  on 
examination,  be  found  actually  to  be  so.  There  is  one  circum- 
stance, however,  which  it  is  necessary  to  assume  as  common  to 
them  all,  and  which  in  reality  is  not  altogether  so.  In  comparing 
the  capacity  of  two  or  more  instruments,  which  supply,  or  tend  to 


94     OF  THE  CIRCUMSTANCES  COMMON  AND  PROPER,  &c. 

supply,  wants  of  the  same  sort,  we  may  very  often  measure  them 
by  the  relative  physical  eftects,  resulting  from  the  action  of  the 
events  brought  to  pass  by  them.  Thus,  if  the  consumption  of 
one  cord  of  fire  wood,  of  a  particular  sort,  is  capable  of  producing 
exactly  double  the  heat  which  the  consumption  of  another  cord 
of  another  sort  produces,  a  cord  of  the  former,  will  have  double 
the  capacity  of  a  cord  of  the  latter,  and,  if  the  one  be  equivalent 
to  four,  the  other  will  be  equivalent  to  exactly  two  days  labor. 
In  the  same  way,  a  log  of  timber  from  Norway,  about  to  be  em- 
ployed in  the  constmction  of  a  house,  if  of  equal  size,  strength, 
and  durability,  with  another  from  Prussia,  may,  with  justice  be 
considered  as  of  equal  capacity  to  it ;  and  so  of  many  other  in- 
struments. We  shall  see  afterwards,  however,  that  this  mode  of 
determining  the  capacity  of  similar  instruments,  is  in  many  cases 
incorrect,  and  that  the  instances  are  very  numerous,  where  the 
relative  capacities  of  instruments  of  the  same  sort,  depend  on 
other  causes  than  their  mere  physical  properties.  The  assump- 
tion, therefore,  that  they  may  be  so  determined,  is  to  be  considered 
as  hypothetical,  and  to  be  tolerated  from  the  difficulty  of  other- 
wise treating  the  subject ;  in  the  same  manner  as  the  hypothetic 
existence,  of  strictly  mathematical  lines,  and  the  absence  of  fric- 
tion and  of  the  resistance  of  the  air,  is  excused,  in  reasonings 
concerning  the  mechanical  properties  of  matter.  As  in  these 
reasonings,  an  attempt  will  be  made  to  ascertain  the  extent,  and 
mode  of  operation  of  those  other  causes  ;  and,  having  traced 
what  seem  to  be  the  great  moving  powers,  and  the  laws  govern- 
ing them,  we  shall  endeavor  to.  discover  the  circumstances  which 
retard  or  derange  their  motions. 

It  may  be  proper  here  to  notice  the  acceptation,  in  which  two 
other  terms  of  frequent  subsequent  occurrence,  are  to  be  received. 
Some  instruments  are  easily  moved  from  place  to  place,  and,  on 
this  account,  there  are  peculiar  facilities,  in  exchanging  them  with 
others.  This  seems  to  be  the  character  distinguishing  what  are 
called  goods,  or  commodities,  from  other  instruments,  and  it  is  in 
this  sense,  that  these  terms  will,  in  the  subsequent  pages,  be  em- 
ployed. 


CHAPTER  III. 


OF  CERTAIN  CIRCUMSTANCES  ARISING  FROM  THE  INSTITUTION  OF  SOCIETY. 

1.  Man  hardly  exists  but  in  the  social  state.  If  separated 
from  infancy  from  his  fellows,  his  peculiar  faculties  scarcely  at 
all  develop  themselves.  His  mental  and  bodily  capacities  and 
energies  seem,  also,  to  be  moulded  by  the  condition  of  the  society 
of  which  he  is  a  member.  We  may  venture  to  predict,  that 
three  children  born  tomorrow,  one  in  CafFiaria,  another  in  China, 
and  a  third  in  London,  and  remaining  in  their  respective  countries 
till  the  age  of  twenty,  will  be  very  different  beings,  and  that  each 
will  possess  the  mental  and  bodily  peculiarities,  that  characterize 
the  particular  community  to  which  he  belongs.  The  same 
things,  though  in  a  lesser  degree,  hold  true  concerning  the  men 
composing  every  nation.  Whether  these  characteristics  of  different 
races,  tribes,  and  peoples,  proceed  altogether  from  some  peculiar 
hereditary  conformation  of  the  bodily  organs,  or  from  the  effects 
of  education,  example,  and  habit,  or  from  the  combination  of  these, 
or  from  other  causes,  it  is  very  certain  that  they  exist,  and  that 
the  moral  and  intellectual  condition,  as  well  as  the  bodily  organi- 
zation of  men,  vary,  as  they  belong  to  this,  or  that  society.  Be- 
sides this,  institutions,  forms  of  government,  and  laws,  influence 
somewhat  the  genius,  and  considerably  affect  the  conduct,  of 
every  people,  and  these  also  are  very  various.  It  thus  happens 
that  every  society  has,  what  may  be  termed,  a  distinctive  charac- 
ter of  its  own. 

It  is  therefore  assumed,  in  the  succeeding  investigations,  that 
the  moral  and  intellectual  powers,  the  knowledge,  the  habits  and 
dispositions  of  the  men  composing  every  separate  community, 
society,  nation,  state,  or  people,  terms  which,  as  far  as  our  subject 
is  concerned,  may  be  considered  synonymous,  are  such  as  to  give 


96  CIRCUMSTANCES  ARISING  FROM 

it  a  peculiar  character  distinguishing  it  from  other  communities. 
It  is  also  assumed,  that  the  average  character  of  the  members  of 
different  portions  of  the  same  community  is  similar,  so  that,  were 
a  considerable  number  of  the  inliabitants  of  any  particular  stated- 
taken  from  one  part  of  its  territories,  tliey  would  closely  resemble 
an  equal  number,  taken  from  any  other  part.  This  latter  assump- 
tion is  not  exactly  accurate.  There  are  great  differences,  espe- 
cially in  extensive  states,  between  the  characters  of  the  inhabitants 
of  different  portions  of  the  same  territory.  These  diversities  render 
it  sometimes  necessary  to  modify  the  conclusions  that  follow  from 
considering  the  average  character  of  the  members  of  the  same 
community  as  perfectly  similar.  Thus,  the  different  characters 
of  the  inhabitants  of  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland,  affect  some- 
what deductions  in  this  subject,  drawn  from  treating  the  characters 
of  the  population  of  different  parts  of  Britain  as  uniform.  In 
truth,  every  large  society  might  be  divided  into  several  smaller 
societies,  differing  somewhat  from  each  other.  If  they  differ  in 
some  particulars,  however,  they  agree  in  many  more,  and  certain 
results  follow  from  this  agreement,  which  make  it  convenient  to 
treat  of  them  as  one.  If  necessary  too,  the  amount  of  the  inaccu- 
racy, arising  from  the  assumption  of  a  more  perfect  uniformity 
than  exists,  may  be  ascertained. 

2.  Man,  as  an  organic  being,  is  governed  by  laws  similar  to 
those  which  other  organic  beings  obey.  Our  subject  obliges  us 
to  advert  to  a  consequence  arising  from  one  of  them. 

In  the  midst  of  the  numerous  revolutions  and  accidents  to  which 
the  surface  of  the  globe  is  subject,  it  is  always  abundantly  re- 
plenished with  animal  and  vegetable  life,  and  the  numbers  of 
every  race  upon  it  are  kept  up  to  the  quantity  of  materials  fit  for 
their  subsistance  which  it  afibrds  them.  The  increase  and  de- 
crease of  the  human  species,  follows  the  general  law.  This 
seems  to  be  the  foundation  of  what  has  been  termed  the  doctrine 
of  population.  In  the  subsequent  pages  it  is  received,  simply  as 
a  statement  of  the  fiict,  that  the  numbers  of  every  society  increase, 
as  what  its  members  are  inclined  to  esteem  a  sufficient  subsistence, 
is  provided  for  them. 

The  great  majority  of  the  members  of  every  community,  pro- 
cure their  subsistence  by  labor,  and,  according  to  this  principle, 
the  number  of  laborers  in  every  community  must  finally  depend 
oa  the  amount  of  those  things  esteemed  by  them  sufficient  for 


THE  INSTITUTION  OF  SOCIETY.  97 

their  subsistence,  which  is  annually  distributed  among  them.  It 
has  been  supposed,  however,  that  there  is  a  constant  oscillation 
above  and  below  this  limit,  and  that  sometimes  therefore  the  sup- 
ply having  to  be  divided  among  a  greater  number,  the  amount 
that  each  receives  is  less,  sometimes,  having  to  be  divided  among 
a  smaller  number,  is  greater,  and  thus  that  the  wages  of  labor, 
though  they  always  tend  towards  a  fixed  standard,  never  remain 
at  it.  Admitting  that  this  continual  vibration  may  take  place,  I 
conceive  I  may  be  permitted  nevertheless  to  disregard  it,  and  to 
assume  that  the  remuneration  awarded  the  laborer,  is,  in  the  same 
society,  always  a  fixed  quantity.  As  it  is  not  intended  to  enter 
into  any  investigation  of  the  principles  determining  the  amount  of 
the  wages  of  labor  in  all  societies,  and  at  all  times,  nor  to  discuss 
the  somewhat  contradictory  doctrines  that  have  been  maintained 
on  this  subject,  the  most  simple  assumption,  and  that,  the  errors 
arising  from  which  may  be  supposed  to  balance  each  other,  seems 
the  best. 

Even  considering  the  subject  however  under  the  most  simple 
conditions  possible,  there  are  still  some  difficulties  attending  it. 
The  articles  which  the  laborer  uses,  for  food,  clothing,  &ic., 
and  which  constitute  his  real  wages,  are  continually  varying. 
Thus,  among  the  working  classes  in  Great  Britain,  fabrics  of 
cotton  have,  in  a  great  measure,  taken  the  placeof  those  of  linen, 
and  wool  for  clothing  ;  as  coal  has  taken  the  place  of  wood  for  fuel. 
Seeing  there  is  this  change  in  w^hat  constitute  the  wages  of  labor, 
how  then,  it  may  be  demanded,  can  wages  at  any  two  times  be 
considered  equal  ? 

In  answer  to  such  a  question,  it  may  be  observed  in  general, 
that  all  articles  supplying  the  wants  of  the  laborer,  and  forming 
his  real  wages,  are  fitted  for  this  purpose  by  some  physical  qual- 
ities they  possess,  producing  certain  effects  on  his  bodily  organs, 
and,  through  them,  occasionally,  on  the  perceptions  and  thoughts 
of  his  mind.  One  article,  therefore,  may  be  esteemed  equal  to 
another  and  different  article,  if  the  effects  produced  by  both  are 
equal.  Thus  a  certain  quantity  of  coal,  may  be  considered  equal 
to  another  of  wood,  if  each  gives  out  the  same  degree  of  heat. 
In  many  cases  it  is  indeed  very  difficult  to  make  this  comparison 
with  accuracy.  This  however  is  not  absolutely  necessary  for 
our  purpose,  it  being  sufficient  to  conceive,  that,  what  are  termed 
the  wages  of  labor,  in  the  same   society,  at   different   periods, 

13 


98  CIRCUMSTANCES  ARISING  FROM 

are  really  equal  quantities,  whether  we  have,  or  have  not,  the 
means  of  measuring  them,  and  ascertaining  that  they  actually 
are  so.  This  may  evidently  be  assumed,  if  we  suppose  that  the 
laborer  is  equally  well  nourished,  clothed,  lodged,  and  instructed, 
and  has  equal  leisure,  at  the  one  period  and  at  the  other  ;  whether 
he  be  fed,  clothed,  and  lodged,  in  the  same  way  or  not. 

As  the  vigor  of  mind  and  body,  as  well  as  the  skill,  of  different 
individuals  in  the  same  society,  are  unequal,  the  rate  of  the 
«vages  of  labor,  even  in  the  same  society,  is  far  from  uniform. 
It  is  however  difhcult  and  in  general  reasonings  unnecessary, 
continually  to  refer  to  this  variety  ;  and  as  it  has,  in  consequence, 
been  usually  neglected,  we  shall  not  farther  advert  to  it. 

According  to  the  preceding  assumptions,  labor,  in  the  same 
society,  is  to  be  considered  as  an  invariable  quantity,  and  a  day's 
labor  as  the  unit,  serving  as  the  base  for  calculations,  concerning 
the  formation  and  exhaustion  of  the  capacity  of  instruments. 
It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  when  so  employed,  it  finally 
refers,  not  to  the  mental  and  corporeal  effort  exerted  throughout 
the  day  by  the  laborer,  but  to  the  wages  received  by  him.  The 
laborer  is,  usually,  merely  the  agent  of  some  other  person,  and 
that  other  person  is,  in  reality,  the  one  forming  the  instrument 
constructed,  as  the  wages  of  the  laborers  employed  by  him  are 
the  causes  of  its  being  constructed.  In  cases  too,  where  the  laborer 
works  for  himself,  he  rates  his  daily  labor  equal  to  a  certain 
amount  of  some  of  the  things  he  is  in  the  habit  of  consuming,  and 
this  amount  may  be  considered,  as  what  he  really  gives  to  the 
construction  of  the  instrument,  in  the  formation  of  which  he  em- 
ploys himself. 

The  rates  of  wages  vary,  very  much,  in  different  societies.  A 
Chinese  laborer,  for  example,  subsists  on  very  much  less  than  an 
English  laborer.  On  the  principles  of  calculation  which  we  have 
adopted,  there  is,  therefore,  a  difference,  in  the  quantity  embraced 
by  a  day's  labor  in  one  country  and  in  another,  and  we  cannot 
immediately  compare,  by  this  means,  instruments  formed  in  one 
society,  with  those  formed  in  another.  Our  system  has,  in  this 
respect,  an  analogy  to  the  different  systems  of  numeration,  with 
regard  to  weights,  measures,  and  coins,  adopted  in  different 
countries.  It  will,  as  we  proceed,  appear,  that  this  diversity  in  the 
rate  of  wages,  in  different  communities,  has  also  other  and  more 
unportant  effects. 


THE  INSTITUTION  OF  SOCIETY.  99 

3.  Every  society  possesses  a  certain  amount  of  materials  capa- 
ble of  beinff  converted  into  instruments.  The  surface  of  its  ter- 
ritory,  the  various  minerals  lying  below  the  surface,  its  natural 
forests,  its  waters,  the  command  it  may  have  of  the  ocean,  and 
its  consequent  property  in  the  minerals  and  animals  contained  in 
it,  the  rain  that  waters  its  soil,  the  elementary  principles  that  may 
be  extracted  from  the  atmosphere,  even,  perhaps,  the  light  and 
heat  of  the  sun,  are  all  to  be  regarded  as  materials,  which,  through 
the  agency  of  the  labor  of  its  members,  may  be  converted  into 
instruments.  The  extent  of  the  power,  which  the  inhabitants  of 
any  state  may  possess,  to  convert  into  instruments  the  materials 
of  which  they  have  the  command  is  however  variable  ;  and  in- 
creases, as  we  have  seen,  as  their  knowledge  of  the  properties,  of 
these  materials  and  of  the  events,  which  in  consequence  of  them, 
they  are  capable  of  bringing  to  pass,  increases.  Thus  the  large 
extent  of  the  knowledge  of  the  civilized  man,  compared  with  that 
of  the  savage  or  barbarian,  gives  him  the  power  of  constructing 
a  much  greater  number  of  instruments  out  of  the  same  materials, 
and  enables  the  European  emigrant  to  convert  the  soil  and  forests 
of  America  or  New  Holland,  into  means  of  producing  a  great 
mass  of  desirable  events,  which  it  was  beyond  the  capacity  of  the 
ignorant  native  to  effect. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


EVERY  INSTRUMExVT  MAY  BE  ARRANGED  IN  SOME  PART  OF  A  SERIES,  OF 
WHICH  THE  ORDERS  ARE  DETERMINED,  BY  THE  PROPORTIONS  EXISTING 
BETWEEN  THE  LABOR  EXPENDED  IN  THE  FORMATION  OF  INSTRUMENTS, 
THE  CAPACITY  GIVEN  TO  THEM,  AND  THE  TIME  ELAPSING  FROM  THE 
PERIOD  OF  FORMATION  TO  THAT  OF  EXHAUSTION. 

As  by  the  capacity  of  instruments  is  to  be  understood  their 
power  to  produce,  or  bring  to  an  issue,  events  equivalent  to  a 
certain  amount  of  labor,  and  as  they  are  also  formed  by  labor,  it 
is  evident  that  the  capacity  given  to  any  of  them,  and  the  labor 
expended  in  its  formation,  have  determinable  numerical  relations 
to  each  other.  The  length  of  time  likewise,  elapsing  between 
their  formation  and  exhaustion,  may  be  expressed  in  numbers. 
If  a  series  then  were  devised,  of  such  a  nature,  that  any  relation 
that  can  exist  among  these  three  quantities,  in  consequence  of 
their  varying  proportions  to  each  other,  might  be  embraced  in  it, 
every  possible  instrument  would  find  a  place  there. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that,  in  consequence  of  a  principle  soon  to 
be  explained,  no  instruments  will  be  designedly  formed,  but  such 
as  have  a  greater  capacity,  or  issue  in  events,  equivalent  to  more 
than  the  labor  expended  in  their  construction.  This  circumstance 
renders  the  formation  of  such  a  series  more  easy,  as  it  renders  it 
unnecessary  to  take  account,  of  any  other  instruments  than  such 
as  issue  in  events  equivalent  to  more  than  the  labor  expended  in 
their  formation,  or,  what  may  be  termed,  the  cost  of  their  forma- 
tion. To  simplify  the  consideration  of  the  matter,  we  may,  for 
a  little,  proceed  on  the  supposition,  that  every  instrument  is  con- 
structed at  one  precise  point  of  time,  and  exhausted  at  another. 
In  that  case,  every  instrument  would  find  a  place,  in  some  part  of 
a  series,  of  which  the  orders  were  determined  by  the  period  of 
time  at  which  instruments  placed  in  them,  issue,  or  would  issue, 
if  not  before  exhausted,  in  events  equivalent  to  double  the  labor 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  iqi 

expended  in  forming  them.  Tliese  orders  may  be  represented 
by  the  letters  A,  B,  C,  "*  *  Z  a,  h,  c,  $fc.  The  relation  to  each 
other  of  the  cost  of  formation,  the  capacity,  and  the  time  elapsing 
between  the  period  of  formation  and  that  of  exhaustion,  of  in- 
struments in  the  order  A,  is  such  as  may  be  expressed  by  saying, 
they  in  one  year  issue  in  events  equivalent  to  double  the  labor 
expended  on  their  formation,  or  would  so  issue,  if  not  before  ex- 
hausted. The  relation  between  these,  in  instruments  of  the  order 
B,  is  such,  that  in  two  years  they  issue  in  events  equivalent  to 
double  the  labor  expended  on  them,  and  are  then  exhausted. 
Instruments  in  the  order  C,  in  three  years  issue  in  events  equiva- 
lent to  double  the  cost  of  formation  ;  of  the  order  D,  in  four  years ; 
of  the  order  Z,  in  twenty-six  years ;  of  the  order  a.  in  twenty- 
seven  years,  &c.  For  the  sake  of  facility  of  expression,  instru- 
ments in  the  order  A,  or  in  the  orders  near  it,  will  be  said  to  be- 
long to  the  more  quickly  returning  orders ;  instruments  in  the  order 
Z,  or  in  the  orders  near  it,  or  beyond  it,  will  be  said  to  belong  to 
the  more  slowly  returning  orders. 

To  imagine,  in  the  first  place,  as  simple  a  case  as  possible. 
An  individual,  say  an  Indian  trader,  is  obliged  to  reside  on 
a  particular  spot  in  the  interior  of  North  America,  for  somewhat 
more  than  a  year.  He  arrives  in  autumn,  and  immediately  sets 
about  inclosing  and  digging  up  a  piece  of  ground,  for  the  purpose 
of  having  it  planted  with  maize.  He  expends  on  this  twenty  days' 
labor.  That  labor  he  reckons  equivalent  to  ten  bushels  of  maize. 
He  gets  the  maize  planted,  hoed  and  harvested  next  season,  by 
Indian  women,  agreeing  to  give  them  part  of  the  crop.  After 
deducting  their  portion  he  has  twenty  bushels  for  himself,  with 
which  he  leaves  the  place.  The  field  he  formed  was  then  an 
instrument  of  the  order  A.  The  same  individual  has  to  reside  a 
little  more  than  two  years  in  another  quarter  of  the  interior.  He 
clears,  or  has  cleared  on  his  arrival,  another  piece  of  ground,  and 
also  expends  on  this  operation  twenty  days'  labor.  Owing  how- 
ever to  the  soil  being  overrun  with  small  roots,  and  it  being  neces- 
sary  to  wait  till  they  partially  rot  before  a  crop  can  be  put  on  it, 
he  is  aware  that  it  cannot  be  planted  until  the  second  year.  It  is 
then  planted  as  before,  and,  as  it  happens,  with  the  same  event  as 
in  the  former  field,  yielding  him  net  twenty  bushels  maize.  This 
field  then  was  an  instrument  of  the  order  B.  In  the  same  way 
it  is  possible  to  conceive  the  formation   and  exhaustion  of  other 


IQ2  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

instruments  of  this  sort,  answering  to  the  orders  C,  D,  E,  &;c. 
the  capacity  of  them  all  being  double  the  cost  of  formation,  and 
the  times  intervening  between  the  periods  of  formation  and  ex- 
haustion, being  respectively  three,  four,  five,  &c.  years.  Al- 
though, however,  instruments  exactly  corresponding  to  the  con- 
ditions assumed,  may  occasionally  exist,  and  although  it  is  pos- 
sible at  least  to  conceive  their  existence  throughout  a  lengthened 
series,  yet,  in  fact,  they  seldom  do  exist  so  as  exactly  to  answer 
the  suppositions.  In  by  far  the  greater  number  of  instances, 
neither  the  times,  elapsing  between  the  periods  of  formation  and 
exhaustion,  are  any  exact  number  of  years,  nor  are  the  capacities 
doublethecost  of  formation.  But,  in  all  variations  of  these  three 
quantities  from  an  exact  correspondence  with  any  of  the  orders, 
the  proportions  existing  between  them,  will,  nevertheless,  always 
be  such,  as  to  make  it  possible  to  reduce  the  instruments  in  which 
they  occur,  to  some  order  or  another  in  our  series,  or  to  an  order 
that  may  be  interposed  between  two  proximate  orders. 

Such  variations  may  be  reduced  to  three  sorts.  The  first  con- 
sists of  instances  where  the  capacity  is  double  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion, but  the  time,  no  exact  number  of  years.  In  this  case,  the 
instrument  does  not  exactly  belong  to  any  of  the  enumerated 
orders,  but  falls  between  two  proximate  orders ;  it  may  therefore 
be  said  to  belong  to  an  order,  that  may  be  supposed  to  be  inter- 
posed between  these  two.  Thus,  an  instrument  being  exhausted 
in  between  seven  and  eight  years,  and  having  a  capacity  equal  to 
double  the  costof  production,  might  be  said  to  belong  to  an  order 
lying  between  G  and  H.  This  designation  would  mark  its  char- 
acter with  sufficient  accuracy  for  our  purpose. 

There  are  only  two  other  cases.  The  capacity  of  the  instru- 
ment may  be  exhausted  before  it  arrive  at  an  amount  equal  to 
double  the  cost  of  formation,  or,  it  may  not  be  exhausted  until  it 
has  come  to  an  amount  greater  than  double  the  cost  of  formation. 
In  the  former  case  it  is  necessary  to  suppose  the  period  of  ex- 
haustion prolonged,  the  excess  of  the  capacity  of  the  instrument 
over  the  cost  of  formation  increasing  at  the  same  ratio,  until  the 
capacity  double  the  cost.  It  will  then  be  shown  to  belong  to 
some  particular  order,  or  to  lie  between  two  proximate  orders. 
Thus,  let  an  individual  have  it  in  his  power  to  make  use  of  a  small 
plot  of  ground  for  six  months,  and  let  him  expend  an  equivalent 
to  two  days'  labor  in  preparing  it  for  receiving  the  seeds  of  some 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  [03 

plant,  sowing  them,  and  cultivating  the  crop,  and  let  it  return 
him,  at  the  end  of  six  months,  an  amount,  which,  reduced  to  the 
value  of  days  labor,  would  be  2,828.  If  then  we  suppose  the 
period  of  exhaustion  prolonged,  the  excess  of  the  capacity  over 
the  cost  increasing  at  the  same  ratio,  in  twelve  months  time  the 
capacity  will  be  4  ;  for,  2,828  is  a  mean  proportional  between  2 
and  4.  The  instrument  formed  by  the  plants  so  cultivated,  would 
therefore  belong  to  the  order  A,  that  order  doubling  in  one  year. 

In  the  case  where  the  capacity  comes  to  more  than  double 
the  cost  of  formation,  the  order  in  which  the  instrument  should  be 
placed,  is  to  be  found,  by  retracing  the  progress  of  its  capacity, 
under  the  supposition  that  it  advanced  at  the  sam.e  rate,  until  we 
arrive  at  a  period  when  it  was  only  double  the  cost.  The 
interval  between  that  and  the  period  of  formation,  will  then 
indicate  the  order  to  which  it  really  belongs. 

The  bread  fruit  tree  is  perhaps  twenty  years  before  it  bear  ; 
but  ten  of  these  trees,  when  in  bearing,  will,  it  is  said,  nearly 
supply  a  family  of  South  Sea  islanders,  with  a  sufficiency  of  this 
sort  of  food  for  eight  months  in  the  year.  This  sort  of  fruit  tree 
requires,  too,  no  other  labor  or  attention  than  that  bestowed  in 
planting  it.  Suppose,  then,  that  an  inhabitant  of  one  of  those 
islands  were  to  spend  an  hour  in  planting  a  few  of  these  trees, 
and  that,  according  to  the  hypothesis  of  sudden  exhaustion,  on 
which  we  are  proceeding,  at  the  termination  of  the  twenty-two 
years  they  are  exhausted,  yielding  at  that  period  an  equivalent 
to  two  thousand  and  forty-eight  hours  labor.  If  then  we 
retrace  the  progress,  at  which  the  capacity  of  this  instrument 
has  advanced,  we  will  find  that  it  belongs  to  the  order  B. 
For,  instruments  in  that  order  doubhng  in  two  years,  one  hour's 
labor,  if  employed  in  forming  an  instrument  of  that  order, 
ought  to  yield  an  equivalent  to  two  hours,  at  the  end  of  the 
second  year ;  and  being  then  employed  in  constructing  other 
instruments,  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  year  should  yield  an 
equivalent  to  four  hours,  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  to  eight, 
and  so  the  geometrical  series,  2,  4,  8,  16,  Sic.  would  arise, 
which,  carried  out  to  the  eleventh  term,  at  the  end  of  the  twenty- 
second  year,  is  2048.  It  may  perhaps  serve  somewhat  to  illus- 
trate the  matter,  to  suppose,  that  the  individual  who  applied 
an  hour's  labor  to  planting  the  bread  fruit  tree,  gave  the  same 
portion  of  time  to  the  cultivation  of  another  sort  of  plant,  yielding 


104  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

its  produce,  and  perishing,  at  the  termination  of  the  second  year 
from  the  time  of  its  being  placed  in  the  soil,  and  the  returns  made, 
from  which  are  equal  to  double  the  labor  expended  on  its 
culture.  Instead  of  consuming  the  crop  at  the  termination 
of  the  second  year,  he  gives  it  to  some  other  person  or  persons, 
on  condition  of  their  applying  for  his  benefit  two  hours'  labor, 
its  equivalent,  to  tlie  culture  of  a  second  crop ;  at  the  end  of 
the  fourth  year,  he  proceeds  in  the  same  manner,  and,  con- 
tinuing the  process,  at  the  termination  of  the  twenty-second 
year,  the  produce  of  the  labor,  of  both  hours',  the  one  applied  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  former  plant,  and  the  other,  to  that  of  the  lat- 
ter, would  be  equal.  The  only  difference  in  the  cases  would 
be.  that,  the  person  in  question,  would,  in  the  latter  case,  have 
the  trouble  of  making  a  bargain  with  one  or  more  individuals  every 
second  year,  and  would  then  also  have  the  power  to  apply,  if  he 
so  chose,  to  the  supply  of  his  wants,  the  events,  in  this  instance 
brought  about  by  his  previous  expenditure  ;  and  that,  in  the  latter 
case,  he  would  have  neither  the  power  nor  the  trouble. 

We  have  assumed,  that  all  instruments  are  formed  at  one  point 
of  time,  and  exhausted  at  another.  This  is  the  case  with  but 
very  few.  The  period  of  formation  almost  always  spreads  over 
a  large  space  of  time,  and  that  of  exhaustion,  over  another.  It 
is  evidently,  however,  possible  to  fix  on  a  point,  to  be  determined 
by  a  consideration  of  all  the  periods  at  which  the  labor  going  to 
the  formation  was  expended,  which  shall  represent  the  true 
period  of  formation  ;  and  on  another  point,  determined  from  a 
consideration  of  similar  circumstances  regarding  the  times  when 
the  capacity  was  exhausted,  which  shall  represent  the  true  period 
of  exhaustion. 

Thus,  suppose  a  small  field  in  some  new  settlement  in  North 
America,  were  formed  by  twelve  days  labor,  it  would,  were  it  of 
the  order  A,  return  in  one  year  an  equivalent  to  twenty-four  days 
labor,  and  then  be  completely  exhausted  and  worthless.  It 
might,  however,  be,  that  it  belonged  to  this  order,  although  it 
neither  yielded  so  much  as  twenty-four  days  labor,  nor  was  ex- 
hausted at  the  end  of  the  year.  Say,  that  the  crop  sown  is  wheat, 
and,  that  one  bushel  wheat  is  equivalent  to  one  day's  labor. 
Were  it  at  once  exhausted,  it  ought  to  yield  twenty  four  bushels 
wheat;  it  however  only  yields  eighteen, 'and  is  not  then  exhausted. 
There  is  consequently  a  deficiency  of  six  liushels.     Now,  six 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  105 

bushels  at  the  end  of  the  second  year,  at  the  same  rate  of  doubhng 
in  a  year,  ought  to  produce  twelve.  Let  us  suppose  that  the 
next  crop  is  hay,  and  that  the  net  hay  yielded  the  second  year 
is  one  ton,  equal  to  eight  bushels  wheat,  then  12 — 8  =  4,  tliere 
is  still  a  deficiency  of  four  bushels,  equivalent,  at  the  end  of  the 
third  year,  to  eight.  If,  therefore,  the  next  crop  of  hay  the  third 
year,  be  equal  to  what  it  was  the  second,  that  is  to  eight  bushels 
wheal,  the  deficiency  will  then  be  made  up.  Let  us  suppose 
that  it  is  so,  and  that  the  field  is  at  that  time  totally  exhausted 
and  useless.  It  is  evident,  that  such  a  field,  though  not  producing, 
or  being  exhausted  as  by  the  supposition,  yet  producing  and 
being  exhausted,  in  a  manner  equivalent  to  the  supposition,  might, 
with  propriety,  be  said  to  belong  to  the  order  A. 

But,  it  is  farther  probable,  that  such  a  field,  might  not  pro- 
duce quite  so  much  grain,  or  hay,  as  we  have  even  by  the  last 
hypothesis  supposed,  and  would  not  even  at  the  end  of  the  third 
year,  or  for  a  much  longer  period,  be  exhausted;  still,  if  the 
deficiency  in  the  one,  w^ere  equivalent  to  the  farther  supply  in 
the  other,  it  would  evidently  properly  belong  also  to  the  same 
order. 

Again,  by  the  suppositions  we  have  made,  the  labor,  or  Its 
equivalent,  was  expended  exactly  at  the  commencement  of  the 
period  of  one  year.  It  might  however  have  been,  that  some 
part  of  the  expenditure,  going  to  the  formation  of  this  instrument, 
was  made  several  months  before  the  commencement  of  the  year, 
and  some  several  months  after.  But,  had  what  was  expended 
before,  been  proportionably  less,  and  what  was  expended  after, 
proportionably  greater,  the  change  w^ould  not  make  any  alteration 
to  the  relation  existing  between  the  time  and  the  expenditure, 
or,  consequently,  to  the  place  of  the  instrument. 

The  spaces  over  which  the  several  points  of  time,  at  which 
the  formation  of  any  instrument  is  effected,  extend,  and  those 
over  which  the  several  points  of  time  at  which  its  capacity  is 
exhausted  also  extend,  frequently  run  into  each  other.  Thus 
according  to  our  system  a  riding-horse  is  an  instrument.  The 
space  of  time  over  which  the  w^iole  period  of  his  formation 
extends,  commences  when  his  dam  is  put  apart  for  breeding,  con- 
tinues as  long  as  any  thing  is  laid  out  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
efficiency  and  durability  to  him  as  an  instrument,  and  probably 
therefore  only  terminates  a  few  days   before   the   death  of  the 

14 


106  OF  THE  iNATURE  OF  STOCK. 

animal.  There  would  be  a  number  of  points  all  along  that  space^ 
at  each  of  which  something  had  been  expended  on  his  account, 
and  from  the  date  of  which,  and  the  amount  expended  at  each, 
data  would  be  furnished,  to  ascertain  the  whole  expense  of  his 
fomiation,  and  the  precise  point  from  whence  it  might  be  dated. 
The  whole  period  of  his  exhaustion  would  also  extend  over  a 
large  space.  It  would  commence  when  he  was  first  ridden  for 
pleasure,  or  business,  and  would  terminate  shordy  after  his  death, 
when  his  hide  went  to  the  tanner,  and  his  flesh  to  the  dogs. 
An  account  of  the  several  items  expended,  and  the  times  when 
they  were  expended,  and  of  the  several  items  yielded,  and  the 
times  at  which  they  were  yielded,  would  furnish  data  for  determin- 
ing the  total  cost  of  formation  and  capacity  and  the  points  to  be 
fixed  on  as  the  periods  of  formation  and  exhaustion,  and  thus  the 
place  of  the  instrument  could  be  determined. 

Calculations  of  this  sort  would  be  intricate,  and  could  not  be 
well  effected  without  having  recourse  to  methods,  not  usually  em- 
ployed in  investigations  like  the  present.  In  point  of  fact,  there 
is  in  practice,  as  we  will  afterwards  see,  a  system  of  notation  of 
instruments,  which  enables  us  pretty  accurately,  and  very  easily 
to  determine  their  place  in  such  a  series  as  we  have  supposed. 
It  is  sufiicient  for  the  end  here  aimed  at,  to  perceive  that  when 
all  particulars  are  known,  concerning  the  formation  and  exhaustion 
of  any  instrument,  and  the  periods  intervening  between  these, 
data  are  then  furnished  for  placing  it  in  some  part  of  such  a  series 
as  we  have  described ;  and  that  it  may  consequently  be  assumed 
that  every  instrument  does,  in  reality,  belong  to  some  one  order 
in  the  series  A,  B,  C,  D,  &;c.,  or  to  an  order  that  may  be  inter- 
posed between  some  two  proximate  orders  of  that  series. 

It  may  perhaps  appear,  tliat  though,  could  instruments  be  con- 
sidered apart,  the  foregoing  explications  might  serve  to  show, 
that  they  might  all  be  reduced  to  a  place  in  our  series,  yet,  as 
they  very  commonly  act  in  combination,  and  as,  in  such  instances, 
the  events  in  which  two  or  more  of  them  issue  are  the  same,  it 
must  be  impossible  to  fix  with  accuracy  the  order  to  which  each 
belongs.  Thus,  a  horse  and  a  cart  form  together  an  instrument 
for  the  transport  of  goods.  The  events,  therefore,  in  ^vhich  both 
issue,  being  the  same,  we  cannot  measure  the  part  that  may  be- 
long to  each,  in  any  other  manner,  than  by  appropriating  to  each 
the  proportion  indicated  by  their  respective  costs  of  formation,  and 
hence  they  will  both  appear  to  belong  to  the  same  order,  though 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  JQT 

perhaps  they  do  in  fact  belong  to  different  orders.  But  our  subse- 
quent inquiries  will  show,  that  the  great  mass  of  the  instruments 
existing  in  the  same  society  are,  in  reality,  at  about  the  same 
orders ;  and,  that  instruments  acting  in  combination  with  other 
instruments,  are  almost  always  at  the  same  orders.  This  objec- 
tion is  therefore  removed,  as  all  instruments  acting  in  combination 
may  thus  be  considered  as  one. 

Instruments  are  frequently  repaired.  The  labor  or  its  equiva- 
lent, so  expended,  may  be  considered,  either  as  a  partial  reforma- 
tion of  the  old  instrument,  or  as  the  addition  of  a  new  instrument 
to  be  combined  in  action  with  the  old  one.  The  same  rules 
therefore,  apply  to  repairs  effected  on  instruments,  as  to  their 
original  formation. 

We  have  assumed,  hitherto,  that  both  formation  and  exhaustion 
are  properties  common  to  all  instruments.  There  is  however  a 
class  of  instruments,  that  forms  an  exception  to  this  general  rule. 
An  extensive  and  important  class  exists,  of  a  nature  so  peculiar, 
that  the  instruments  belonging  to  it  are  never  exhausted,  unless 
in  consequence  of  some  revolution  in  the  circumstances  of  the 
society.  That  part  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  devoted  to  agricul- 
tural purposes  composes  this  class.  The  peculiarity  arises  from 
every  portion  of  land  so  employed,  forming  two  distinct  instru- 
ments. A  piece  of  land,  that  it  may  do  its  part  in  providing  a 
supply  for  future  wants,  must  first  be  rendered  capable  of  culture, 
and  then  be  cultivated.  It  is  not  necessary  that  he  who  renders 
it  fit  for  culture,  should  also  cultivate  it,  though  it  commonly 
happens  that  both  operations  are  performed  by  the  same  indi- 
vidual. But  by  whomsoever  the  operation  of  converting  waste 
land,  into  land  bearing  crops,  be  performed,  two  ends  are  always 
gained  by  it,  the  power  of  cultivation,  and  the  actual  culture. 
There  is  this  great  difference  between  them,  that  while  the 
changes  produced  in  a  piece  of  land  to  fit  it  for  cultivation  are 
lasting,  remaining  unless  some  means  be  taken  to  do  away  with 
them ;  those  that  are  effected  on  it  by  the  actual  process  of  culti- 
vation are  of  short,  or  at  all  events,  of  limited  duration.  When 
an  individual  has  converted  a  portion  of  morass  or  forest,  into  a 
field  fit  for  the  operations  of  tillage,  it  does  not  return  again  to 
the  state  of  morass  or  forest.  He  has  fitted  it  for  being  made  an 
instrument  of  aorriculture,  or  rather  a  succession  of  instruments  of 
agriculture.  The  farmer,  by  manuring  it,  sowing  certain  seeds 
in  it,  and  tilling  it,  forms  it  into  such  an  instrument.     The  changes 


108  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

he  thus  effects  however  pass  away.  The  seeds  he  sows,  grow- 
ing into  plants  of  different  kinds,  are  carried  off ;  the  manure 
yields  part  of  its  substance  to  them,  and  is  in  part  dissipated  ;  the 
soil  that  had  been  loosened  and  pulverized  by  the  plough  and 
harrow,  is  gradually  again  compacted  and  hardened,  by  the  effects 
of  the  action  of  the  sun  and  rain.  As  far  then  as  it  was  actually 
an  instrument  of  agriculture  it  is  exhausted.  But  its  power  of 
being  again  formed  into  such  an  instrument  remains,  and  the  same 
operations,  the  same  rotation  of  crops,  may  indefinitely  succeed 
one  another. 

The  individual  who  first  forms  a  portion  of  land  into  these 
combined  instruments,  has  probably  in  view,  only  the  ends  to  be 
gained  by  one  of  them.  His  motive  to  expend  labor  on  the  for- 
mation of  the  field,  is  to  fit  it  for  immediate  culture.  But,  he 
cannot  effect  this,  without  also  rendering  it  capable  of  being  cul- 
tivated to  all  succeeding  times.  The  returns,  which  for  this 
reason  it  makes  in  those  succeeding  times,  form  what  is  called 
rent ;  and  this  peculiarity  in  the  nature  of  this  sort  of  double  in- 
strument, is  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  existence  of  that  par- 
ticular species  of  revenue.  Any  portion  of  land  therefore,  which 
bears  a  crop,  considered  as  regards  its  fitness  for  being  cultivated, 
is  an  instrument  of -indefinite  exhaustion,  and  will  not  conse- 
quently coincide  with  the  conditions  by  which  the  orders  in  our 
series  are  determined.  We  shall  afterwards  see,  that  in  every 
instance  it  may,  notwithstanding,  be  reduced  to  a  determined 
place  in  that  series.  A  portion  of  cultivated  land,  considered  as 
an  instrument  actually  subject  to  the  operations  of  the  husband- 
man, does  not  differ  from  any  other  instrument. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  position  in  our 
series  which  any  instrument  will  occupy,  is  determined  by  the 
following  circumstances. 

1.  The  shorter  the  space  of  time  between  the  period  of  its 
formation,  and  that  of  its  exhaustion,  the  nearer  will  any  instru- 
ment be  placed  to  the  order  A,  that  is,  towards  the  more  quickly 
returning  orders. 

2.  The  greater  the  capacity,  and  the  less  the  cost  of  its  form- 
ation, the  nearer  will  any  instrument  be  to  the  order  A  ;  the 
less  the  capacity,  the  greater  the  cost  of  formation,  the  farther 
will  it  be  from  A. 

Generally,  the  proximity  of  instruments  to  A  is  inversely  as  the 
cost  and  the  time,  and  directly  as  the  capacity. 


CHAPTER   V 


CIRCUMSTANCES  DETERMINING  THE  AMOUNT  OF  INSTRUMENTS  FORMED. 

Having  traced  the  general  nature  of  instruments,  and  shown, 
that  the  relations  existing  among  the  circumstances  by  which 
they  are  affected,  make  it  practicable  to  arrange  them  in  a  reg- 
ular series,  the  object  next  claiming  our  attention,  is,  to  ascertain 
the  causes  determining  the  amount  of  them  which  each  society 
possesses,  and  to  mark  the  more  remarkable  phenomena  which 
the  operation  of  those  causes  produces. 

The  causes  determining  the  amount  of  instruments,  formed  by 
any  society,  will,  I  believe,  be  found  to  be  four. 

1.  The  quantity  and  quality  of  the  materials  owned  by  it. 

2.  The  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation. 

3.  The  rate  of  wages. 

4.  The  progress  of  the  inventive  faculty. 

The  nature  of  the  second  of  these,  and  the  circumstances  on 
which  its  strength  depends,  will  form  the  subject  of  the  next 
chapter,  but  previously  to  entering  on  it,  it  is  necessary  to  estab- 
lish the  following  proposition. 

The  capacity  which  any  people  can  communicate  to  the  mate- 
rials they  possess,  by  forming  them  into  instruments,  cannot  he 
indefinitely  increased,  while  their  knowledge  of  their  potoers  and 
qualities  remains  statioriary,  without  moving  the  instruments 
formed  continually  onwards  in  the  series  ABC  &fc. :  but,  there 
is  no  assignable  limit  to  the  extent  of  the  capacity,  which  a  peo- 
ple having  attained  considerable  hnoivledge  of  the  qualities  and 
powers  of  the  materials  they  possess,  can  communicate  to  them, 
without  carrying  them  out  of  the  series  ABC  &fc.,  even  if 
that  knowledge  remain  stationary. 

The  capacity  of  instruments  may  be  increased,  by  adding  to 


110  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

their  durability,  or  to  their  efficiency  ;  that  is,  by  prolonging  the 
time  during  which  they  bring  to  pass  the  events,  for  the  purpose 
of  effecting  which,  they  are  formed,  or,  by  increasing  the  amount 
of  them  which  they  bring  to  pass  within  the  same  time. 

A  dwellins-house  is  an  instrument,  aidinir  to  bring;  to  an  issue 
events  of  various  classes.  It  more  or  less  completely  prevents 
rain,  damp,  and  the  extremes  of  cold  and  heat,  from  penetrating 
to  the  space  included  within  its  area.  It  preserves  alf  other 
instruments  contained  within  it,  in  comparative  safety.  It  gives 
those  who  inhabit  it  the  power  of  carrying  on  unmolested,  various 
domestic  occupations,  and  of  enjoying,  undisturbed  by  the  gaze 
of  strangers,  any  of  the  gratifications  or  amusements  of  life,  of 
which  they  may  be  able  and  desirous  to  partake.  Events  of 
these  sorts,  it  may  bring  to  pass,  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  or 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  within  the  same  time.  In  the  former 
case,  the  durability  is  increased,  in  the  latter,  the  efficiency  ;  in 
both,  the  capacity  is  augmented.  Dwelling-houses  are  built  of 
different  materials,  and  those  materials  are  wrought  up  with  more 
or  less  care.  A  dwelling  might  be  slightly  run  up  of  wood, 
lath,  mud,  plaster,  and  paper,  which  wpuld  only  be  habitable  for 
a  few  months  or  years,  like  the  unsubstantial  villages,  that  Cathe- 
rine of  Russia  saw  in  her  progress  through  some  parts  of  her  do- 
minions. Another  of  the  same  size,  accommodation,  and  appear- 
ance, that  might  last  for  two  or  three  centuries,  might  be  con- 
structed, by  employing  stone,  iron,  and  the  most  durable  woods, 
and  joining  and  compacting  them  together,  with  great  nicety  and 
accuracy.  Between  these  two  extremes  there  are  all  imaginable 
varieties.  According  to  that  adopted,  both  the  durability  and  the 
efficiency  will  be  greater  or  less.  These  two  may  be  separated 
from  each  other,  at  least  in  imagination,  and  therefore  we  may 
consider  them  apart. 

If  the  increased  durability  that  may  be  given  an  instrument  be 
considered  apart  from  the  increased  efficiency  that  will  also  proba- 
bly be  communicated  to  it,  it  must  be  regarded  simply  as  an 
extension  of  its  existence,  and  consequently  as  a  like  extension  of 
its  capacity.  A  dwelHng-house  lasts,  we  shall  say,  sixty  years,  but 
in  other  respects  is  perfectly  similar  to  one  lasting  only  thirty 
years.  Considered  as  an  instrument,  the  former  is,  therefore, 
exactly  equal  to  two  of  the  latter,  the  one  formed  thirty  years 
after  the  other.     A  house  lasting  one  hundred  and  twenty  years 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  m 

would  in  like  manner  have  the  capacity  of  four  houses,  one 
formed  now,  a  second  thirty,  a  third  sixty,  and  a  fourth  ninety 
years  hence.  The  capacity  thus  increasing  at  the  same  rate  as 
the  duration,  if  the  limits  to  the  power  of  giving  durability  be 
indefinite,  the  limits  to  the  power  of  communicating  capacity  are 
also  indefinite. 

But  to  give  additional  durability  to  the  instrument  there  must 
be  additional  labor  bestowed  on  its  formation.  An  increase  of 
the  durability  of  an  instrument  may  therefore  be  considered  as 
a  power  communicated  to  it  of  giving  existence  to  a  new  instioi- 
ment  at  the  end  of  a  certain  period,  and  purchased  by  a  present 
expenditure.  The  effects  produced  by  the  change  will  be  de- 
termined by  the  relations  subsisting  between  the  returns  made  by 
the  addition,  its  cost,  and  the  time  elapsing  between  the  ex- 
penditure and  return.  If  we  suppose  the  present  expenditure 
necessary  to  produce  the  durability,  to  be  always  equal  to  the 
durability  produced,  then  the  compound  instrument  will  be  moved 
towards  the  more  slowly  returning  orders,  because  the  new  in- 
strument is  in  that  case  one  of  slower  return.  One  dwelling-house 
lasts  thirty  years  ;  another,  the  same  as  it  in  other  respects,  but 
costing  double  the  expense  of  formation,  lasts  sixty  years  ;  the 
former  house  is  an  instrument  of  the  order  O,  doubling  in  fifteen 
years.  The  part  of  the  duration  of  the  latter  extending  from 
the  thirtieth  to  the  sixtieth  year,  is  to  be  considered,  by  our 
hypothesis,  as  a  separate  instrument.  If  we  suppose,  that  dur- 
ing the  time  it  is  in  use  it  returns  as  the  other,  at  the  end  of  the 
sixtieth  year  it  will  have  returned  only  four,  and,  therefore,  is  an 
instnniient  of  the  order  C  doubling  only  in  thirty  years.  The 
compound  instrument  will,  in  consequence,  be  of  an  order  be- 
tween X  and  Y,  doubling  in  between  twenty-four  and  tv/enty- 
five  years.  The  procedure  of  adding  to  the  durability,  by 
adding  equally  to  the  expense  of  formation,  will  have  greater 
effect  in  placing  an  instrument  further  from  A,  the  more  it  is 
subjected  to  its  operation.  Thus,  were  an  instrument  of  this  sort 
to  have  its  duration  prolonged  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  years, 
and  at  the  same  expense,  the  last  thirty  would  return  only  four 
in  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  whereas,  had  it  formed  an 
instrument  of  the  order  O,  it  ought  to  have  yielded  two  hundred 
and  fifty-six.  Were  the  durability  increased  still  farther,  at  the 
same  cost,  the  divergence  would  be   much  greater,  going  on  in  a 


112  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

geometrical  ratio.  If,  therefore,  continual  additions  be  made  to 
the  durability  of  an  instrument,  it  cannot  be  preserved  at  an 
order  of  equally  quick  return,  unless  the  several  aligmentations 
be  communicated  to  it,  by  an  expenditure  diminishing  in  a  geo- 
metrical ratio ;  that  is,  in  a  ratio  becoming  indefinitely  less,  as 
it  is  continued.  This,  however,  cannot  happen,  for,  it  would 
imply  an  absurdity.  While  instruments  are  in  existence,  they 
are  either  producing  events,  or  giving  a  new  direction  to  their 
course.  But,  mere  matter,  unless  in  some  very  rare  instances, 
is  never  acting,  or  acted  upon,  without  undergoing  a  change. 
This  we  term  wear,  and  the  effects  it  indicates  form  consequently 
a  definite  power,  to  counteract  which,  a  definite  force  must  be 
found.  It  cannot  then,  be  counteracted,  by  a  force  indefinitely 
small. 

The  same  thing  may  be  illustrated  in  another  manner.  When 
events  are  produced  and  governed  by  design,  they  in  turn  gen- 
erate other  events  of  greater  powers  than  themselves,  and  these 
others,  in  a  series  rapidly  increasing.  Mere  durability  in  instru- 
ments, may  be  considered  as  a  capacity  to  generate  future  events, 
lying  dormant  in  them,  till  the  lapse  of  years  exposes  its  exist- 
ence, and  gives  it  opportunity  to  act.  The  greater  the  time 
therefore,  for  the  expiration  of  which  it  must  wait,  the  less  the 
chance  of  its  being  on  an  equality  with  rivals,  whose  powers  are 
continually  and  rapidly  multiplying  either  events,  or  enjoyments, 
whenever  they  have  a  field  on  which  to  exert  their  energies. 

While  the  knowledge  of  the  course  of  events  which  the  mem- 
bers of  any  society  possess  remains  unaltered,  and  the  materials 
they  own  are  the  same,  the  duration  of  the  instruments  they 
form  cannot,  consequently,  be  indefinitely  increased,  without  their 
being  moved,  farther  and  farther,  from  the  more  quickly  return- 
ing orders. 

The  durability  of  instruments  refers  only  to  those  of  gradual 
exhaustion  ;  their  efficiency,  or  the  extent  of  their  power  to  bring 
about  events  within  a  certain  time,  refers  both  to  those  of  gradual, 
and  of  sudden  exhaustion.  If  the  knowledge  of  the  course  of 
events,  and  the  amount  of  the  materials  remain  the  same,  the 
efficiency  of  these  materials  when  formed  into  instruments  cannot 
be  indefinitely  increased,  without  that  increase  being  at  length 
made  with  additional  difficulty,  and  through  means  of  an  amount 
of  labor  greater  than  was  required  in  the  earlier  stages.     The 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  H;^ 

action  of  matter  upon  matter  always  depends  on  some  cause. 
Tliose  causes,  —  the  inherent  qualities  and  powers  of  the  different 
matters  around  him,  —  are  the  means  man  employs  to  make  one 
material  to  act  so  on  another  as  to  produce  the  events  he 
desires,  and  he  does  so  by  applying  his  labor  to  give  them 
such  a  form  and  position  as  may  bring  their  powers  into 
play.  If  we  suppose  any  number  of  men  to  be  fixed  to  one 
situation,  and  their  knowledge  of  the  qualities  of  the  materials 
around  them  to  remain  stationary,  they  will  naturally  first  make 
choice  of  those  materials,  whose  powers  are  most  easily  brought 
into  action,  and  which  produce  the  desired  events  most  abundantly 
and  speedily.  But  as  the  stock  of  materials  which  any  society 
possesses,  is  limited,  its  members,  if  we  suppose  them  to  acquire 
no  additional  knowledge  of  the  powers  of  those  materials,  and 
yet  to  add  continually  to  the  amount  of  instruments  they  form 
out  of  them,  must  at  length  have  recourse  to  such  as  are  either 
operated  on  with  greater  difliculty,  or  bring  about  desired  events 
more  sparingly  or  tardily.  The  efficiency  of  the  instnuiients 
produced  must  therefore  be  generated  by  greater  cost ;  that  is, 
they  must  pass  to  orders  of  slower  return. 

This  passage  will  be  rapid,  or  slow,  as  the  amount  of  know- 
ledge possessed  is  small,  or  great.  When  art  is  in  its  infancy, 
and  men  know  but  a  few  of  the  properties  fitting  them  for  be- 
coming instruments,  that  are  inherent  in  the  materials  in  their 
possession,  they  cannot  much  vary  their  mode  of  proceeding  on 
them,  by  combining,  and  giving  new  turns  to  their  actions  on  each 
other.  In  more  advanced  stages  of  society,  on  the  contrary,  where 
the  powers  of  a  great  number  of  materials  are  known,  and  where 
consequently  their  operations  on  each  other,  may  be  combined, 
and  multiplied  to  a  great  extent,  the  means  by  which  the  same 
end  may  be  attained  are  very  numerous.  Some  of  them  are 
more  easy  or  expeditious  than  others,  but  they  differ  by  very 
slight  degrees,  and  the  instruments  formed  by  successively  adopt- 
ing them,  would  occup)^  positions  in  one  series  not  widely  distant 
from  one  another. 

If  we  then  consider  the  capacity  that  may  be  given  any  amount 
of  materials,  by  a  society  among  whom  the  progress  of  art  is 
stationary,  as  separated  into  the  durability,  and  efficiency,  of  the 
instruments  its  members  form,  it  would  appear,  that  they  are 
both  subject  to  similar  laws,  and  that  neither  can  be   indefinitely 

15 


114  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

increased,  witlioul  carrying  the  instruments  constructed  contin- 
ually on,  to  orders  of  slower  return.  The  same  general  conclu- 
sions must  obviously  hold  good,  concerning  the  capacity  consid- 
ered as  combined  of  both.  There  is,  however,  a  circum- 
stance flowing  from  the  consideration  of  this  union,  which  is 
deserving  of  notice,  as  it  has  considerable  effect  in  the  relations 
between  the  cost  and  capacity  of  instruments,  and,  consequently, 
on  the  position  to  be  assigned  them.  It  often  happens,  that  ad- 
ditional labor  bestowed  on  an  instrument,  to  give  it  greater 
efficiency,  gives  it  also  greater  durability.  Thus  the  same  choice 
of  materials,  and  the  same  careful  and  laborious  formation  of 
them,  that  render  the  walls  of  a  dwelling-house  effective  in  ex- 
cluding the  inclemency  of  the  w^eather,  give  it  also  solidity  and 
strength,  and  consequently  prolong  its  duration.  A  tool,  in  the 
fabrication  of  which  good  steel  has  been  employed,  not  only  cuts 
better,  but  lasts  longer,  than  one  formed  of  inferior  stuff.  In 
such  cases,  and  they  are  very  numerous,  the  capacity  being  in- 
creased, both  as  concerns  durabihty  and  efficiency,  by  the  same 
outlay,  its  proportion  to  the  cost  is  greater  and  a  larger  expen- 
diture may  be  made  on  the  formation  of  the  instrument  without 
moving  it  at  all  or  moving  it  but  a  short  distance  towards  the  orders 
of  slower  return.  Sometimes  the  same  expenditure  that  gives 
efficiency  to  instruments,  partly  also  increases  their  durability 
and  partly,  quickens  their  exhaustion.  Thus,  the  majority  of 
roads  in  North  America,  and  in  many  other  countries,  are  con- 
structed altogether  of  the  soil  of  Avhich  the  surface  happens  to 
consist,  arranged  in  a  form  adapted  to  the  purpose.  Such  roads, 
unless  in  the  best  of  weather,  are  very  inefficient  instruments  in 
facilitating  transport,  and  their  durability  is  so  small,  that  they 
are  probably  reconstructed,  by  repair,  every  four  or  five  years.  A 
road  formed  of  small  fragments  of  stone,  in  the  manner  that  is 
termed  macadamization,  costs  perhaps  tw^enty  times  as  much, 
but  is  both  a  far  more  efficient,  and  a  far  more  durable  instru- 
ment. Besides  however  being  more  durable,  and  efficient,  the 
facility  it  gives  to  transport  occasions  an  increase  of  transport,  and 
its  exhaustion  is  thus  quickened.  For  example,  the  capacity  of 
a  road  of  tlijs  sort,  may  be  adequate  to  the  transport  of  two  hun- 
dred thousand  carriages  ;  if  this  be  spread  over  twenty  years,  it 
will  be  an  instrument  of  much  slower  return,  than  if,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  annual  transport  being  doubled,  that  number  pass 
over  it  in  ten  years. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  ]15 

As  efficiency  and  durability  are   frequently  produced  by  the 
same  means,  so,  it  sometimes  happens,  that  the  means  which 
would  add  to  the  one,  cannot  be  employed,  without  diminishing 
the  other.     Thus  there  are  many  tools  and  utensils,  that  cannot 
be  made  very  strong,  and  therefore  durable,  without  being  at  the 
same  time  clumsy,  and  inefficient ;  and  they  cannot  be  made  very 
light,  and  easy  to  work  with,  without  being  also  of  little  durability. 
The  difficulty  in  the  combination  of  the  qualities  of  durability 
and  efficiency,  in  the  same  materials,  can  only,  however  be  con- 
sidered as  absolutely  luniting  the  capacity  of  those  instruments, 
to  support  the  weight  of  which,  a  corporeal  exertion  is  required  ; 
and  is  consequently  confined  to  wearing  apparel,  and  to  those 
tools,   and  utensils,  which  are   altogether  moved  by  the  hand. 
When  the  weight  rests  on    some  firm  basis,  it  can   be  poised, 
and  by  the  application  of  sufficient  expenditure  friction,  can  be 
removed.     The  circumstance  of  the  qualities  of  durability,  and 
efficiency,  depending  on  the  same  materials,  has  therefore,  pro- 
bably, on  the  whole,  the  effect  of  retarding  somewhat,  though 
not  very  greatly,  the  progress  of  instruments  as  greater  capacity 
is  given  to  them,  towards  the  more  slowly  returning  orders. 

The  various  powers  of  the  material  world,  seem  to  be  connected 
at  some  common  centre,  and  its  several  parts  to  exercise  reciprocal 
influences  on  each  other.     Hence,  a  discovery  of  new  properties 
in  any  one  material,  or  more  easy  modes  of  bringing  the  old  into 
play,  generally  extends  the  power  of  man  over  a  great  range  of 
the  other  materials,  which  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  before 
applying  to  his  purposes.     When  art,  therefore,   has  made  con- 
siderable progress,  and  comprehends  within  its  dominion  a  mul- 
tiplicity of  materials,  the  variety  of  effects  that  may  be  generated, 
from  the  action,  and  reaction,  on  each  other,   of  the  numerous 
powers  at  its  disposal,  becomes  illimitable.  As  in  numbers,  every 
addition  multiplies  amazingly  the   possible   antecedent  combina- 
tions, until  at  length  the  amount  becomes  too  great  to  be   ascer- 
tained.    Hence  it  is,  that,  though  among  barbarous  nations,  the 
ability  of  man  to  increase  the  amount  of  instruments  he  possesses 
may  be  bounded,  among  nations  having  made  considerable  ad- 
vance in  art,  there  seems  no  assigning  any  limit  to  it,  other  than 
that  indicated  in  the  second  part  of  the  proposition,  the  necessary 
gradual  passage  of  the    instruments   constructed,  to  orders    of 
slower  and  slower  return. 


11(5  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

It  is  hence,  that,  if  we  turn  to  any   community  where  art  has 
advanced,  we  invariably  sec,  that  however  much  industry  may 
have  aheady  exerted  itself,  on  the  materials  within  its  reach,  the 
field  for  its  possible  future   action  seems   rather  increased  than 
diminished,  and  that  the  farther  we  stretch  our  view  over  it,  to 
the  greater  distance  its  extreme  circumference  recedes  from  us. 
The  industry  of  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  has  probably  been 
as  largely  applied  to  the  materials  which  its  limited  territory 
possesses,  as  that  of  any  other  community  presently  existing  ;  yet 
certainly,  there  is  no  lack  of  matters  on  which  it  might  be  farther 
exercised.      A  large  portion  of  its  surface,  and  which  wants  not, 
nevertheless,  all  the  requisites  for  the   sustenance  of  vegetable 
life,  lies  yet  uncultivated.     With  the  exception  of  the  mountain- 
ous and  rocky  regions,  heat,  light,   air  and  water,  in  sufficient 
abundance  rest  on  every  part  of  it,  nor  is  the  presence  of  many 
of  the  earths,  the  mixture  of  which  forms  a  proper  shelter  for  the 
tender  radicle  fibres,  and  a  commodious  storehouse  for  an  impor- 
tant part  of  their  nourishment,   any  where  wanting.     There  is 
also  in  general  a  considerable  supply  diffused  over  the  surface,  of 
the  decomposing  remains  of  former  vegetables,  and  animals,  the 
material  which  constitutes   nearly  the  whole  solid  food,  that  the 
organic  life  of  plants  requires  ;  and,  even  when   this  is  deficient 
at  one  point,  there   are  larger  collections  of  it  at  some  other. 
The  outlay  requisite,  in  many  instances,  to  give  such  form  to 
these  materials,  as  to  fit  them  for  the  purposes  of  the  agriculturist, 
would,  no  doubt,  be  very  great,  still,  whatever  it  might  be,  as 
the  instrument  formed  would  be  of  unlimited  duration,  the  annual 
returns  from  it,  would,   in  time,   exceed  the  cost  of  formation, 
and  bring  it  within  the  limits  of  our  series. 

Were  we  to  go  over  the  various  other  instruments,  the  returns 
from  which  supply  the  wants  of  this  community,  we  should  per- 
ceive, that  every  where,  their  capacities  are  capable  of  being 
greatly  increased.  One  would  not  find  it  very  easy  to  say,  how 
much  might  be  added,  to  the  durability  and  efficiency,  of  dwel- 
ling-houses alone.  The  amount  of  the  capacity  for  the  facilita- 
tion of  future  transport,  which  might  be  embodied  in  railroads, 
returning  ultimately  much  more  than  the  cost  of  their  formation, 
is  incalculable  ;  as  is  also,  the  degree  to  which  mining  operations 
might  be  extended.  Even  supposing  all  these,  and  many  other 
instruments,  to  have  acquired  a  vastly  increased  extent,  both  as 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  nT 

concerns  durability  and  efficiency  ;  instead  of  limiting  their  far- 
ther increase,  it  would  seem  likely,  rather  to  open  up  a  still 
wider  space,  for  the  exertion  of  future  industry  in  the  formation 
of  others.  Were  the  soil  universally  cultivated,  were  railroads 
extended  and  ramified  throughout  the  country,  and  were  the 
riches  of  the  mineral  kingdom  more  fully  brought  out,  the  addi- 
tional facility  given  to  the  formation  of  instruments,  by  the  com- 
mand afforded  of  the  materials  necessary  for  their  construction, 
and  the  ease  with  which  they  might  be  transported  from  point  to 
point,  would,  it  may  well  be  supposed,  be  sufficient,  to  give  the 
means  of  a  still  greater  increased  construction  of  them,  and  a 
still  farther  advance,  of  the  amount  of  the  capacities  for  the  sup- 
ply of  futurity,  embodied  in  the  various  instruments,  spread  over 
the  surface  of  the  territory,  or  lying  above,  or  beneath  it.  In 
short,  the  more  we  consider  the  subject,  the  more  clearly  shall 
we  perceive  the  impossibility  of  fixing  any  limit  to  the  amount 
of  the  labor  which  may  be  expended  in  the  formation  of  instru- 
ments, in  this,  or  any  other  community,  where  art  has  made 
considerable  advance. 

This  progress,  while  art  itself  remained  stationary,  would, 
however,  undoubtedly,  gradually  carry  instruments  to  more  and 
more  slowly  returning  orders,  and  would  not  therefore  take  place, 
unless  the  society  were  inclined  to  construct  instruments  of  those 
orders.  What  the  circumstances  are,  which  determine  individ- 
uals, and  societies,  to  stop  at  this,  or  that  order  of  instruments, 
will  form  the  subject  of  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


OP  THE  CIRCUMSTANCES  WHICH  DETERMINE  THE  STRENGTH  OF  THE 
EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION. 

It  has  been  shown,  in  the  preceding  chapter,  that,  in  commu- 
nities where  an  extensive  knowledge  of  the  materials  within 
reach  of  the  industry  of  their  members  has  generated  numerous 
arts,  we  can  assign  no  limit,  in  the  nature  of  the  materials  them- 
selves, to  the  capacity  for  the  supply  of  future  wants  that  might 
be  given  to  them :  but,  that  the  instmments  so  formed,  pass,  by 
a  gradual  and  uninterrupted  progress,  to  orders  of  slower  and 
slower  return.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  observe,  that  the  in- 
crease to  the  capacity  which  may  be  given  to  instruments,  can- 
not be  restricted  by  inability  to  devote  additional  labor  to  their 
construction ;  for,  as  all  instruments  at  the  period  of  their  ex- 
haustion return  more  than  the  cost  of  their  formation,  they  give 
the  means  of  reconstructing  others,  returning  also,  somewhat 
more  largely  than  themselves.  There  are,  nevertheless,  in 
every  society  causes,  effectually  bounding  the  advance  of  instru- 
ments to  orders  capable  of  embracing  a  larger  and  larger  circle 
of  materials,  and  the  determination  of  those  causes  is  the  subject, 
now  claiming  our  attention. 

Instruments  are  all  formed  by  one  amount  of  labor,  or  some 
equivalent  to  it,  that  is,  by  something  either  capable  of  yielding, 
or  itself  constituting  some  of  the  necessaries,  conveniences,  or 
amusements  of  life,  and  they  return  another  greater  amount  of 
labor  or  its  equivalents.  The  formation  of  every  instrument 
therefore,  implies  the  sacrifice  of  some  smaller  present  good,  for 
the  production  of  some  greater  future  good.  If,  then,  the  pro- 
duction of  that  future  greater  good,  be  conceived  to  deserve  the 
sacrifice  of  this  present  smaller  good,  the  instrument  will  be 
formed,  if  not,  it  will  not  be  formed.     According  to  the  series  in 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  119 

which  we  have  arranged  instruments,  they  double  the  cost  of 
their  formation  in  one,  two,  three,  fcc.  years.  Consequently, 
the  order  to  which  in  any  society  the  formation  of  instruments 
will  advance,  will  be  determined  by  the  length  of  the  period,  to 
which  the  inclination  of  its  members  to  yield  up  a  present  good, 
for  the  purpose  of  producing  the  double  of  it  at  the  expiration  of 
that  period,  will  extend,  according  as  it  stretches  to  one,  two, 
three,  twenty,  forty,  &c.  years  will  the  formation  of  instruments 
be  carried,  to  the  orders.  A,  B,  C,  T,  n,  &c.  and,  at  the  point 
where  the  willingness  to  make  the  the  sacrifice  ceases,  there  the 
formation  of  instruments  must  stop.  The  circumstances  there- 
fore, on  such  occasions  governing  the  decision  of  the  members  of 
all  societies,  must  be  the  causes,  fixing  the  point,  to  which  the 
formation  of  instruments  may  in  any  society  be  carried,  and  be- 
yond which  it  cannot  advance.  The  determination  to  sacrifice 
a  certain  amount  of  present  good,  to  obtain  another  greater 
amount  of  good,  at  some  future  period,  may  be  termed  the  effect- 
ive desire  of  accumiilation.  All  men  may  be  said  to  have  a 
desire  of  this  sort,  for  all  men  prefer  a  greater  to  a  less  ;  but  to 
be  effective  it  must  prompt  to  action. 

Were  life  to  endure  for  ever,  were  the  capacity  to  enjoy  in 
perfection  all  its  goods,  both  mental  and  corporeal,  to  be  prolonged 
with  it,  and  w^ere  we  guided  solely  by  the  dictates  of  reason,  there 
could  be  no  limit  to  the  formation  of  means  for  future  gratifica- 
tion, till  our  utmost  wishes  were  supplied.  A  pleasure  to  be 
enjoyed,  or  a  pain  to  be  endured,  fifty  or  a  hundred  years  hence, 
would  be  considered  deserving  the  same  attention  as  if  it  were  to 
befall  us  fifty  or  a  hundred  minutes  hence,  and  the  sacrifice  of  a 
smaller  present  good,  for  a  greater  future  good,  would  be  readily 
made,  to  whatever  period  that  futurity  might  extend.  But  life, 
and  the  power  to  enjoy  it,  are  the  most  uncertain  of  all  things, 
and  we  are  not  guided  altogetlier  by  reason.  We  know  not  the 
period  when  death  may  come  upon  us,  but  we  know  that  it  may 
come  in  a  few  days,  and  must  come  in  a  few  years.  Why  then 
be  providing  goods  that  cannot  be  enjoyed  until  times,  which, 
though  not  very  remote,  may  never  come  to  us,  or  until  times  still 
more  remote,  and  which  we  are  convinced  we  shall  never  see? 
If  life,  too,  is  of  uncertain  duration  and  the  time  that  death  comes 
between  us  and  all  our  possessions   unknown,  the  approaches  of 


120  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

old  age   are  at  least  certain,  and  are   dulling,  day  by  day,  the 
relish  of  every  pleasure. 

A  mere  reasonable  regard  to  their  own  interest,  would,  there- 
fore, place  the  present  very  far  above  the  future,  in  the  estima- 
tion of  most  men.  But,  it  is  besides  to  be  remarked,  that  such 
pleasures  as  may  now  be  enjoyed,  generally  awaken  a  passion 
strongly  prompting  to  the  partaking  of  them.  The  actual  pre- 
sence of  the  immediate  object  of  desire  in  the  mind,  by  exciting 
the  attention,  seems  to  rouse  all  the  faculties,  as  it  w^ere,  to  fix 
their  view  on  it,  and  leads  tliem  to  a  very  lively  conception  of 
the  enjoyments  which  it  offers  to  their  instant  possession.  The 
prospects  of  future  good,  which  future  years  may  hold  out  to  us, 
seem  at  such  a  moment  dull  and  dubious,  and  are  apt  to  be 
slighted,  for  objects  on  which  the  day-light  is  falling  strongly, 
and  showing  us  in  all  their  freshness  just  within  our  grasp.  There 
is  no  man  perhaps,  to  whom  a  good  to  be  enjoyed  to  day,  would 
not  seem  of  very  different  importance,  from  one  exactly  similar 
to  be  enjoyed  twelve  years  hence,  even  though  the  arrival  of 
both  were  equally  certain. 

Nor,  while  we  retain  any  taste  for  pleasures,  is  it  easy  to  pre- 
scribe limits  to  the  extent  in  which  we  may  indulge  in  them,  or 
to  the  amount  of  the  funds  they  may  absorb.  Every  where  we 
see,  that,  to  spend  is  easy,  to  spare,  hard.  Every  one  indeed 
looks  upon  those  in  the  rank  immediately  above  him,  as  rolling 
in  superfluous  extravagance.  But,  in  every  rank,  from  the 
prince  to  the  peasant,  there  are  very  many  individuals,  who  have 
difficulty  in  procuring  funds  to  defray  the  cost  of  articles,  the  ex- 
penditure of  which  they  look  upon  as  necessary  to  their  condi- 
tion, and,  for  the  remainder,  in  the  different  classes,  who  have 
more  than  their  utmost  real  desires  would  call  for,  pleasure  is  so 
entwined  with  extravagance,  in  the  forms  in  which  she  presents 
herself  to  each,  that  it  is  difficult  fully  to  embrace  the  one, 
without  coming  within  the  circle  of  the  other. 

It  would  then  appear,  that  merely  personal  considerations,  can 
never  eive  o-reat  strength  to  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation. 
A  future  good,  as  concerns  the  individual,  when  balanced  against 
a  present  good,  is  both  exceedingly  uncertain  in  its  arrival,  and 
in  the  amount  of  enjoyment  k  may  yield,  is  probably  far  inferior. 
Such  considerations   would  undoubtedly  represent  it,  as  a  great 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  121 

folly  to  deny  youth  or  manhood  pleasure,  that  old  age  miglit 
have  riches  not  to  be  enjoyed  by  it,  but  which,  like  the  fabled 
monster  in  the  garden  of  the  Hesperides,  it  must  employ  itself 
with  restless  care  to  guard  for  others, 

"  Conservans  aliis,  quae  periere  sibi 

Sicut  in  auricomis  pendentia  plurimus  hortis 

Pervigil  observat  non  sua  poma  draco."* 

A  prudent  calculation  of  mere  personal  enjoyment,  could 
prompt  to  nothing  more  than  a  provision  for  self,  and  would  only 
lead  to  the  making,  as  it  is  said,  the  day  and  the  journey  alike, 
and  taking  care,  that  youth  should  not  want  pleasure,  nor  old 
age  comfort.  But,  as  passion  is  ever  getting  the  better  of  mere 
prudence,  this  limit  would  every  now  and  then  be  exceeded,  and 
in  numerous  instances,  the  satiety  of  riot  would  be  succeeded  by 
the  miseries  of  want.  Wherever  a  large  amount  of  means  for 
the  gratification  of  the  present  existed,  they  would  be  squandered, 
and  no  one,  on  the  other  hand,  would  be  inclined  to  make  any 
great  sacrifice  of  the  present,  for  the  purpose  of  providing  for 
the  future.  The  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation 
would  be  low,  and  only  such  instruments  would  be  formed  as 
were  of  the  quickly  returning  orders. 

But  man's  pleasures  are  not  altogether  selfish.  He  receives 
pleasure,  from  giving  pleasure,  and  is  far  from  the  {)erfection  of 
his  existence  when  he  does  not  draw  his  enjoyments,  rather 
from  the  good  he  communicates,  than  from  that  which  he  re- 
serves. Without  the  ties  which  bind  him  to  others  through  the 
conjugal  and  parental  relations,  the  claims  of  his  kindred,  his 
friends,  his  country,  or  his  race,  life  would  be  to  most  men  a 
burden.  These  are  its  great  stimulants,  and  sweeteners,  giving 
an  aim  to  every  possible  exertion,  and  an  interest  to  every  mo- 
ment. If,  sometimes,  they  shadow  our  being  with  cares  and 
fears,  those  passing  shadows  but  prove  there  is  a  sunshine.  The 
light  of  life  only  disappears,  and  its  dreary  night  then  commen- 
ces, when  we  have  none  for  whom  to  live.  Then  the  whole 
creation  is  a  void.     Really  to  live   is  to   live   with,  and  through 

*  C.  C.  Galli.  Eleg.  I.  The  whole  elegy  is  illustrative  of  that  isolation  of 
feeling  and  action,  and  consequent  individual  misery,  and  general  weakness, 
that  pervaded  the,  Empire  at  the  time.  . 

16 


122  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

others,  more  than  In  ourselves.     To  do  so  we  must  do  so  trulv. 

"  Love,  and  love  only,  is  the  loan  for  love." 

If  the  mere  pretence  deceive  others,  it  mocks  and  tantahzes  our- 
selves, encircling  us  with  a  joy  as  unreal,  as  that,  which  the  looks 
and  tones  of  affection  shed  round  him,  who  receives  them  dis- 
guised in  a  borrowed  garment.  We  cannot  enjoy  them,  because 
we  feel  that  they  are  not  ours,  but  some  other's  whose  dress  we 
v.-ear. 

In  so  far  as  to  procure  good  for  others,  gives  a  real  pleasure 
to  the  individual,  he  is  released  from  that  narrow  and  imperfect 
sphere  of  action,  to  which  his  mere  personal  interests  would  con- 
fine him,  and  the  future  goods  which  the  sacrifice  of  present  ease 
or  enjoyment  may  produce,  lose  the  greater  part  of  their  uncer- 
tainty and  worthlessness.  Though  life  may  pass  from  him,  he 
reckons  not  that  his  toils,  his  cares,  his  privations,  will  be  lost,  if 
they  serve  as  the  means  of  enjoyment  to  some  whom  he  may 
leave  behind.  These  feelings,  therefore,  investing  the  concerns 
of  futurity  with  a  lively  interest  to  the  individual,  and  giving  a 
continuity  to  the  existence  and  projects  of  the  race,  must  tend  to 
strengthen  very  greatly  the  effective  desire  of  accumulalion. 
There  would  seem  to  be  no  limit  to  the  possible  extent  of  their 
operation.  The  more  powerful  and  predominating  they  become, 
the  greater  must  be  thsir  influence.  It  is  true  they  are  often 
feeble,  and  oppressed  by  other  principles,  and  it  is  just  as  true 
that  the  world  is  full  of  deceit,  hollowness,  and  unhappiness.  As 
far  as  they  exist,  howev^er,  they  form  a  real  element,  of  great 
power  in  the  determination  of  the  course  of  human  action,  and 
one  the  nature  of  which  would  seem  to  indicate,  and  experience 
to  prove,  to  be  of  great  influence,  on  the  particular  part  of  it 
that  forms  our  present  subject.  In  the  succeeding  pages,  the 
terms,  the  social  and  benevolent  affections,  will  be  employed  to 
denote  them. 

The  strength  of  the  intellectual  powers,  giving  rise  to  reason- 
ing and  reflective  habits,  forms  another  important  element  in  the 
determination  of  the  course  of  human  action.  These  habits  in 
opposition  to  the  passions  of  the  present  hour,  bring  before  us 
the  future,  both  as  concerns  ourselves,  and  others,  in  its  legitimate 
force,  and  urge  the  propriety  of  providing  for  it.  Although 
therefore,  were  our  cares  limited  altogether  to  ourselves,  the 
greatest  strength  of  the  reasoning  faculty,  could  prompt,  to  but  a 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  123 

very  limited  operation  on  the  events  of  futurity,  yet,  the  farther 
they  extend  to  others,  the  wider  is  the  circle  of  operations  that 
it  leads  us  to  embrace.  These  two  principles  of  our  nature,  the 
social  and  benevolent  affections,  and  the  intellectual  powers, 
serve  indeed  mutually  to  move  each  other  to  action,  the  affections 
exciting  the  intellect  to  discover  the  means  of  producing  good, 
the  intellect  opening  up  a  channel  to  the  affections  by  giving 
the  power  to  do  good. 

All  circumstances  increasing  the  probability  of  the  provision 
we  make  for  futurity  being  enjoyed  by  ourselves  or  others,  also 
tend  to  give  strength  to  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation. 
Thus  a  healthy  climate,  or  occupation,  by  increasing  the  pro- 
bability of  life,  has  a  tendency  to  add  to  this  desire.  When 
engaged  in  safe  occupations,  and  living  in  healthy  countries,  men 
are  much  more  apt  to  be  frugal,  than  in  unhealthy,  or  hazardous 
occupations,  and  in  climates  pernicious  to  human  life.  Sailors 
and  soldiers  are  prodigals.  In  the  West  Indies,  New  Orleans, 
the  East  Indies,  the  expenditure  of  the  inhabitants  is  profuse. 
The  same  people,  coming  to  reside  in  the  healthy  parts  of  Eu- 
rope, and  not  getting  into  the  vortex  of  extravagant  fashion,  live 
economically.  War,  and  pestilence,  have  always  waste,  and 
luxury,  among  the  other  evils  that  follow  in  their  train. 

For  similar  reasons,  whatever  gives  security  to  the  affairs  of 
the  community,  is  favorable  to  the  strength  of  this  principle. 
In  this  respect  the  general  prevalence  of  law  and  order,  and  the 
prospect  of  the  continuance  of  peace  and  tranquillity,  have  con- 
siderable influence. 

These  seem  to  be  the  chief  circumstances,  determining  the 
relations  between  present  and  future  good,  in  the  minds  of 
those  in  any  society,  who  have  a  mind  and  a  will,  at  the  time 
they  are  forming  habits.  When  habits  are  once  formed,  they 
regulate  the  tenor  of  the  future  life,  and  make  slaves  of  their 
former  masters.  There  are,  however,  in  every  society,  very 
many,  who  form  habits,  and  pursue  a  certain  line  of  conduct 
through  life,  not  from  any  reasoning  or  choice  of  their  own, 
but  hurried  on  by  the  example  of  those  around  them,  and  the 
general  direction  in  which  the  current  of  feeling  and  action  sets 
throughout  the  whole  body.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  the 
power  that  moves  and  directs  the  mass,  lies  not  in  them,  but  in 
those,  who  govern  their  conduct  in  whole,  or  in  part,  by  their 
own  feelings  and  passions,  and  the  reflections  which  the  situation 


124  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

of  circumstances  around  them  sugcrest  to  them.  These  form  the 
great  moving  principle,  the  others,  hke  the  balance-wheel  in  an 
engine,  merely  keep  up,  and  give  uniformity,  to  the  motion  they 


generate. 


The  desire  to  accumulate  would  then  seem  to  derive  strength, 

chiefly  from  three  circumstances. 

1.  The  prevalence  throughout  the  society,  of  the  social  and 
benevolent  affections,  or,  of  that  principle,  which,  under  what- 
ever name  it  may  be  known,  leads  us  to  derive  happiness,  from 
the  good  we  communicate  to  others. 

2.  The  extent  of  the  intellectual  powers,  and  the  consequent 
prevalence  of  habits  of  reflection,  and  prudence,  in  the  minds  of 
the  members  of  the  society. 

3.  The  stability  of  the  condition  of  the  affairs  of  the  society, 
and  the  reign  of  law  and  order  throughout  it. 

It  is  weakened,  and  strength  given  to  the  desire  of  immediate 
enjoyment,  by  three  opposing  circumstances. 

1.  The  deficiency  of  strength  in  the  social  and  benevolent 
afl'ections,  and  the  prevalence  of  the  opposite  principle,  a  desire 
of  mere  selfish  gratification. 

2.  A  deficiency  in  the  intellectual  powers,  and  the  consequent 
want  of  habits  of  reflection  and  forethought. 

3.  The  instability  of  the  affairs  of  the  society,  and  the  imper- 
fect diffusion  of  law  and  order  throughout  it. 

The  reader  may  perhaps  conceive,  that,  in  enumerating  these 
different  circumstances,  and  deducing  the  strength  of  the  effect- 
ive desire  of  accumulation  from  the  preponderance  of  the  one 
class  over  the  other,  I  am  attempting  an  unnecessary  refine- 
ment, and  that  the  principle  of  a  regard  to  self  interest  alone, 
though  it  may  not,  of  itself,  give  great  strength  to  this  desire,  yet, 
from  its  combination  with  other  springs  of  action,  must,  generally 
do  so  indirectly  and  ultimately  and  may,  therefore,  be  assumed  as 
a  cause  sufficient  to  account  for  the  phenomena.  If  we  confine 
our  attention  to  the  present  times,  and  to  particular  parts  of  the 
globe,  this  may  be  readily  admitted.  Now,  and  in  those  places, 
a  prudent  regard  to  self  interest  would  doubtless  prompt  many 
individuals  to  cooperate  effectively  in  the  increase  of  the  general 
means  of  enjoyment.  But  there  is  nothing  more  apt  to  mislead 
us,  when  investigating  the  causes  determining  the  motions  of  any 
great  system,  than  to  take  our  station  at  some  particular  point  in 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  125 

it,  and,  examining  the  appearances  there  presented  to  us,  to  sup- 
pose that  they  must  be  precisely  similar  through  the  whole  sphere 
of  action.  Because,  in  Great  Britain,  a  regard  to  mere  self  in- 
terest, may  now  prompt  to  a  course  of  action  leading  to  making 
a  large  provision  for  the  wants  of  others,  we  are,  in  reality,  no 
more  warranted  to  conclude  that  it  will  do  so  always,  and  in  every 
place,  than  were  the  ancients  warranted  to  conclude,  because,  in 
their  particular  communities,  the  pursuit  of  wealth  commonly 
generated  evil,  that  it  must  therefore  do  so  always  and  in  every 
place. 

There  seem  to  be,  in  modern  times,  and  in  particular  com- 
munities, two  circumstances,  that  may  lead  an  individual,  from  a 
mere  regard  to  his  personal  interest,  to  pursue  the  paths  of  sober 
industry  and  frugahty,  and,  consequently,  to  make  an  extended 
provision  for  the  wants  of  others.  These  seem  to  be  the  desire 
of  personal,  and  family  aggrandizement,  and  a  wish,  conjoined 
with  the  pursuit  of  both,  to  rank  high  in  the  estimation  of  the 
world.  The  acquisition  of  fortune,  is  a  road  open  to  the  am- 
bition of  all  men,  and,  in  the  present  days,  is  the  only  road  open 
to  that  of  most  men.  The  mere  desire  to  rise  in  the  world,  and 
envy  of  the  superiority  of  other  men,  may  excite  many  to  enter 
on  this  path,  and  preserve  them  steadily  in  it.  This  sort  of 
spirit,  however,  must  be  kept  in  strict  check,  by  a  large  sur- 
rounding mass  of  genuine  probity,  and  tenderness  of  the  hap- 
piness of  others,  or  it  certainly  breaks  out  into  disorders.  There 
is  none  more  easily  tempted  to  evil,  or  more  dangerous.  It  is 
the  first  to  diminish  the  security  of  all  compacts,  and  transactions 
of  business,  by  fraud  and  exactions  ;  it  is  the  first  to  disturb  the 
public  tranquillity,  by  seditions  and  conspiracies.  It  is  such  a 
spirit,  predominating  over  a  character  otherwise  good,  that 
Shakspeare  paints  in  Cassius.  Cresar  thinks  him  to  be  feared, 
because, 

''  Such  men  as  he  be  never  at  heart's  ease, 
While  they  behold  a  greater  than  themselves; 
And  therefore  are  they  very  dangerous." 

It  is  this  temper  that  spurs  him  on,  "  in  envy  of  great  Cassar," 
to  "  humour,  and  win,  the  noble  Brutus,"  to  the  assassination. 
It  is  the  same  spirit,  that  renders  him  unscrupulous, 

"  To  sell  and  mart  his  offices  for  gold, 
To  undeservers ;" 


12Q  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

and,  to  wring 

"  From  the  hard  hand  of  peasants,  their  vile  trash, 
By  any  indirection." 

When,  therefore,  the  mere  desire  of  distinction,  is  the  object 
for  which  wealth  is  generally  pursued,  there,  the  pursuit  infallibly, 
at  length,  withdraws  from  the  path  of  virtue,  and  excites  those 
eno-ased  in  it.  to  a  disreo-ard  of  their  own  honor,  and  the  suffering 
of  others. 

"  Magnum  pauperies  opprobrium  jubet 
Quidvis  et  facere  et  pati, 
Virtutisque  viam  deserit  ardute." 

When  such  is  the  character  of  only  a  small  minority  of  those 
who  pursue  wealth,  it  is  not  injuriously  felt.  The  energy  of  their 
motion,  rather  quickens  the  progress  of  the  whole,  than  retards  it. 
It  is  very  different,  when  such  characters  compose  the  majority 
of  those  engaged  in  such  pursuits.  A  chaos  of  deceit,  treachery, 
knavery,  is  then  generated,  in  which  truth,  generosity,  good  faith, 
compassion,  perish.  Hence  it  was,  that  the  pursuit  of  wealth, 
in  ancient  times,  was  held  as  absolutely  incompatible,  with  the 
lowest  degree  of  liberal  sentiment,  virtuous  spirit,  or  common 
honesty.  Plato  expressly  says,  that  in  commerce  and  traffic 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  honest  man,  and  numerous  passages 
from  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers  might  be  cited  in  proof,  that, 
in  those  days,  it  was  admitted  on  all  hands,  that  the  character  of 
the  money-making  man,  was  uniformly  vicious.  The  following 
is  one  of  the  most  striking  1  can  presently  find. 

"  It  is  impossible  for  the  same  man  to  be  given  to  sensual 
pleasures,  and  to  the  love  of  money,  and  to  be  religious.  For 
he  who  is  a  lover  of  pleasure  will  be  a  lover  of  money,  and  he 
who  loves  money,  must  of  necessity  be  unjust,  and  a  violator 
of  the  laws  of  God  and  man."*  It  is  here  not  thought  necessary 
to  give  any  proof  of  the  assertion,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  taken  as 
an  admitted  fact,  from  which  a  consequence  may  be  deduced. 

In  those  times,  therefore,  the  pursuit  of  wealth  was  disreputa- 
ble, and  the  self-love  of  no  one  could  be  gratified  by  the  charac- 
ter it  procured  him.     We  are  apt  to  conceive  the  observation  of 

*  O  (filriSovov  xai  (ftXoaMfiajor  nm  (pdoxQ^jf^aTOv  xai  (f.dodeov  ibv 
d.viov  uSvvcaov  livai.  6  yuq  cpihjSovog  y.cxi  (ptkoain^iaiog  6  8s  (pdoacofiaTOS 
7ittVTb)g  xai  tpiKoxQrj^iaiog.  O  de  cpiXoxQ^^fintog  £§  avayxr^g  adixog.  O 
dB  ttSmog  tig  fie.v  Ofov  avoaioc  Eig  Ss  av&Qomovg  Ttaqavofiog.     Demophili 

SimilitiKline.'!. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  1^27 

St.  Paul,  that  "  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil,  and  in- 
fallibly leads  to  wickedness,"  as  springing  from  the   ascetic  spirit 
in  which  he  contemplated  matters,  whereas  it  is  common  to  him 
with  all  the  moralists  of  his  tim.e,  even  with  the   most  liberal  of 
them,  and  must  be  held  as  a  mere  statement  of  what  was  then 
an  obvious  fact.     Thus  Horace  calls  it  the  same  thing,  "  summi 
materiam  mali,"  and  the  voice  of  the  whole  age  agrees  with  him. 
An  assiduous  care  to  the  increase  of  fortune  w^as  then  esteemed 
Bvil,  and  the  source  of  evil,  and  was  reprobated  accordingly.     It 
was  evil,  because  generally  proceeding  from  a  grasping,  sordid, 
selfish  spirit.    It  was  the  source  of  evil,  because  the  great  exciter 
of  fraud,  knavery,  and  violence.  It  is  in  more  moral  communities 
alone,  where  the  real  springs  of  action  are  not  selfish,  and  where 
a  desire  for  the  good  of  others  is  one  of  the  chief  movers,  animat- 
ing the  exertions,  and  giving  a  tone  to  the  feelings  and  actions  of 
the  whole  body,  that  the  virtuous   and  liberal  mind,    sympa- 
thizes   w-ith,    and    approves    the    conduct    of   the    man,    who 
gives  his  days  to  labor,  and  his  nights  to  engrossing  care,  for  the 
purpose  of  increasing  his  gains.  There,  such  a  life  is  not  deemed 
selfish,  sordid,  or  unhappy,  because  there,  it  is  known  generally 
to  proceed  from  a  totally  opposite  spirit,  and  to  have  for  its  sus- 
taining principle,   the  welfare  of  others,  rather  than  of  the  indi- 
vidual ;  and  there,  it  is   esteemed  praiseworthy,  because   there, 
its  general  tendency  is  good,  not  evil.    There,  too,  ambition  alone 
may,  no  doubt,  lead  those  who  want  other  motives  into  the  paths 
of  sober  industry  and  frugality,  because  the  desire  of  excelhng  in 
whatever  is  attempted,  must  impel  individuals  actuated   by  it,  to 
every  pursuit  that  other  men  gain  credit  by.     It   is   not  perhaps 
the  object  gained,  so  much  as  the  gaining  of  it,  which  gives  it 
value  in  their  eyes.     But,   it  is  only  where   such  conduct  pro- 
cures consideration,  and  respect,  that  we  can   expect   it  will  be 
steadily  pursued  by  such  persons.     Where  patient  and  assiduous 
industry,  and  undeviating  integrity,   procure   the   highest  name, 
and  fame,  they  will  be  followed  by  many  who  value  them  not  in 
themselves.     But  this  observation  only  proves,  that  we  have  to 
seek  for  the  general  course  of  action  of  the  individual,  in  the  cir- 
cumstances determining  that  of  the  society. 

In  modern  times,  again,  and  in  particular  comm.unities,  mar- 
riage and  offspring,  and  the  consequent  desire  of  family  aggran- 
dizement, may  often  succeed  in  imposing  on  those,  to  v/hom  the 


128  <^F  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

welfare  of  others  is  naturally  of  little  moment,  the  necessity  of 
providing  for  that  welfare,  and  therefore  may  often  generate  and, 
keep  up  a  much  stronger  attention  to  the  cares  of  futurity,  than 
could  be  excited  by  a  mere  regard  to  self  interest.  But,  it  is 
to  be  observed,  that  the  mode  in  which  the  passions  prompting 
to  marriage  will  operate,  must  depend,  on  the  feelings,  and  con- 
sequently, manners,  pervading  the  society.  When  the  general 
feelings  and  morals  become  corrupt,  marriage  will  never  be 
sought  after,  by  men  in  easy  circumstances,  for  the  mere  plea- 
sures of  sense.  Socrates  remarks  this  to  his  son,  when  pointing 
out  the  obligations  he  owed  him  for  giving  him  being*  and  every 
pure  voluptuary  is  ready  to  curse,  with  Eloisa,  "  all  human  ties." 
The  indulgences  to  which  these  passions  prompt,  when  the 
feelings  become  purely  selfish,  will,  indeed,  I  suspect,  be  found 
to  be  the  great  weakeners  of  this  very  principle.  Out  of  the 
heart  are  the  issues  of  life,  and  the  evils  to  which  they  give  rise 
are  the  worst  of  any,  because  they  contaminate  the  sources  of 
all  healthy  energy  and  activity,  at  the  very  fountain  head.  It  is 
to  them,  that  Horace,  in  my  opinion,  truly  traces,  the  load  of 
mischief  which  in  his  time  pressed  on  Rome,  and  which  finally 
overwhelmed  her ; 

"  Faecunda  culpse  secula,  nuptias 
Primum  inquinavere,  et  genus  et  damos  : 
Hoc  fonte  derivata  clades 
Inque  patres  populumque  fluxit." 

Even  on  the  supposition  of  legitimate  offspring,  it  is  only  in 
countries  where  the  general  sentiment  applauds  that  course  of 
action,  that  the  man  actuated  by  mere  self  interest,  can  be  sup- 
posed to  pride  himself  on  rearing  up  and  providing  for  a  family, 
in  preference  to  enjoying,  without  restraint,  all  the  pleasures  he 
may  be  able  to  procure.  Cool,  calculating,  self  intei'est,  would 
thus  speak.  "  Who  knoweth  whether  his  son  shall  be  a  wise 
man  or  a  fool  ?  Yet  shall  he  have  rule  over  all  his  labor,  where- 
in he  hath  labored,  and  wherein  he  hath  showed  himself  wise 
under  the  sun.  This  is  also  vanity.  Wherefore  I  perceive 
that  there  is  nothing,  better  than  that  a  man  should  rejoice  in 
his  own  works  :  for  that  is  his  portion :  for  who  shall  bring  him 

*  Kal  fiei'  dv  tCoi'  je  (jccpQodiaiiov  evsy.a  ncndortoiFiod'ui  lovti  ur&Qfhnovg 
TuTiolu/iiSiiroig-  inh  t6vtov  ys  tmp  &.itol.vaoyjMV  fisarat  fiev  ot  6dol  jHEardi 
de  7(i  oixii/uona.     Xenoph.  Memorabilia. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  129 

to  see  what  shall  be  after  him :  it  is  good  and  comely  for  one  to 
eat  and  to  drink,  and  to  enjoy  the  good  of  all  his  labor  that  he 
taketh  under  the  sun,  all  the  days  of  his  life,  which  God  giveth 
him,  for  it  is  his  portion."  We  find  accordingly  that  in  states 
where  mere  selfish  enjoyment  is  the  chief  principle  of  action,  that 
the  interests  of  posterity  are  neglected.  Thus,  among  the  Roman 
writers,  the  heir  is  always  represented  in  an  invidious  light,  and 
to  save  for  him  is  represented  as  a  folly.  The  writings  of  Horace, 
and  the  contemporary  poets,  throughout,  exemplify  the  prev- 
alence of  this  feeling. 

"  Parcus  ob  hiEridis  curam  — 
Assidet  insano. — " 

For  a  frightful  picture  of  causes  and  effects,  in  this  particular,  the 
epigram  of  Martial  to  Titullus  beginning, 

"  Rape,  congere,  aufer,  &.c." 

might  be  quoted.  But,  it  is  time  to  conclude  a  digression,  on 
which  perhaps  I  have  somewhat  prematurely  entered. 

We  shall  then  assume  that  there  are  motives,  as  above  enu- 
merated, derived  from  the  principles  of  human  nature,  acting  on 
all  men,  and  exciting  them  to  expend  what  they  presently  pos- 
sess in  providing  for  future  wants,  as  there  are  others,  derived 
from  the  same  source,  tempting  them  to  lay  it  out  in  the  gratifi- 
cation of  their  immediate  wants.  The  strength  of  the  effective 
desire  of  accumulation,  in  any  man  or  society  of  men,  or  this 
desire  manifested  in  action,  is  determined  by  the  preponderance 
of  the  one  class  of  motives,  over  the  other.  It  is  manifested,  and 
may  be  measured,  by  the  willingness  of  the  individual,  or  indi- 
viduals, to  lay  out  a  certain  amount  to-day,  in  order  to  produce 
the  double  of  that  amount  at  a  period  more  or  less  remote,  that 
is,  at  the  expiration  of  one,  two,  three,  &,c.  years. 

17 


CHAPTER    VII 


OF  SOME  OF  THE  PHENOMENA  ARISING  FROM  THE  DIFFERENT  DEGREES 
OF  STRENGTH  OF  THE  EFFECTIVE  DESIRE  OF  ACCUMULATION  IN  DIFFER- 
ENT SOCIETIES. 

The  effective  desire  of  accumulation  is  of  different  degrees  of 
strength,  not  only  in  different  societies,  as  compared  with  each 
other,  but  also  in  the  several  individuals  composing  the  same 
society  as  compared  together.  Disregarding,  however,  for  the 
present,  the  effects  produced  on  the  formation  of  instruments, 
from  diversities  in  the  strength  of  this  principle  among  individ- 
uals in  the  same  society,  we  are,  in  this  chapter,  to  endeavor  to 
trace  solely  some  of  those  resulting  from  the  operation  of  causes 
varying  its  strength  in  different  societies.  As  has  been  already 
stated,  there  are  three  other  causes  operating  in  the  formation  of 
instruments  ;  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  materials  owned  by 
any  particular  society ;  the  progress  which  the  inventive  faculty 
has  made  in  it ;  and  the  rate  of  the  wages  paid  the  laborer.  The 
first  of  these  depending  on  the  original  constitution  of  the  whole 
globe,  and  its  different  regions,  and  the  correspondence  between 
these  and  the  corporeal  system  of  man,  is  determined  by  circum- 
stances, the  consideration  of  which  would  be  foreign  to  the  pre- 
sent inquiry.  With  regard  to  our  subject  it  is  to  be  taken  as  an 
important  but  ultimate  fact.  The  causes  on  which  the  progress 
of  the  inventive  faculty  seems  chiefly  to  depend,  will  form  the 
subject  of  a  subsequent  chapter.  At  present,  the  extent  of  that 
progress  is  to  be  received  simply  as  a  circumstance  of  admitted 
importance. 

The  rate  of  the  wages  of  labor,  the  last  of  the  causes  affecting 
the  formation  of  instruments,  though  a  subject  of  investigation  in 
itself  highly  interesting,  and  closely  connected  with  this  whole 
inquiry,  is  not,  as  has  been  already  stated,   to  be  otherwise  con- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  131 

sidered  in  these  investigations,  than  as   an  existing  circumstance, 
the  operation  of  which  is  also  of  importance  in  the  determination 
of  the  extent  to  which  the  stock  of  materials,  in   possession  of 
any  society,  will  be  wrought  up   by  it,  but  the  laws  regulating 
which  lie  beyond  our  prescribed   limits.     So  considered,  a  low 
rate  of  wages  may  be  esteemed,  in  its  direct  effects,  as  producing 
the  same  results  as  an  improvement  in  the  quality  of  the  mate- 
rials operated  on,  or  an  extension  of  the  power  to  operate  on 
them,  through   an  advance  in  the   progress  of  invention.     All 
these  cause  the  same  returns  to  be  produced  from  a  less  expen- 
diture, or  greater  returns,  from  the  same  expenditure.     They 
all,  therefore,  place  a  greater  range  of  materials  within  compass 
of  the  accumulative  principle,  and  occasion  the  construction  of  a 
larger  amount  of  instruments.     The  advance  of  invention,  how- 
ever, differs    from   a  lowering  in  the  rate  of  wages,  in  being  a 
quantity  to  the  increase  of  which  we  can  set  no  bounds,  whereas, 
we  soon  arrive  at  a  limit  to  the  possible  diminution  of  the  rate  of 
wages.     In  the  principles  on  which   they  depend,  and  in  their 
ulterior  consequences  they  differ,  I  believe  it  will   be  found,  still 
more  widely. 

The  first  example  I  shall  take,  of  the  effect,  of  circumstances 
in  moulding  the  characters  of  communities,  and  of  these  again, 
in  determining  the  extent  to  which  they  carry  the  formation  of 
instruments,  will  be  that  of  the  American  Indian. 

The  life  of  the  hunter  seems  unfavorable  to  the  perfect 
developement  of  the  accumulative  principle.  In  this  state  man 
may  be  said  to  be  necessarily  improvident,  and  regardless  of 
futurity,  because,  in  it,  the  future  presents  nothing,  which  can 
be  with  certainty  either  foreseen,  or  governed.  The  hunting 
grounds  are  the  sources  from  which,  among  hunters,  the  means 
of  subsistence  are  drawn.  But  these  belong  to  the  nation  or  the 
tribe,  which  alone  therefore,  can  make  more  abundant  provision 
for  futurity  by  securing  to  itself  a  domain  more  extensive,  or 
better  supplied  with  wild  animals ;  or  meet  poverty,  by  being 
restricted  to  one  more  narrow,  or  barren.  As  regards  his  future 
means  of  living,  every  member  of  such  a  community  thinks  of 
nothing  but  whether  the  supply  of  game  will  be  plentiful,  or 
scanty  ;  in  the  one  case,  he  knows  that  he  will  enjoy  abundance, 
in  the  other  that  he  must  endure  want.     In  such  societies  there- 


132  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

fore,  the  view  can  never  be  directed  to  any  distant  future  good, 
which  present  exertion  may  secure  to  the  individual,  but  is  con- 
fined to  what,  by  that  exertion  may  be  added  to  the  power,  or 
the  territory  of  the  tribe.  What  apphes  to  the  individual  hun- 
ter, applies  to  his  family.  Their  comfort  depends  less  on  his 
particular  exertions,  than  on  circumstances  affecting  the  whole 
band,  or  little  nation  to  which  he  belongs.  It  is  only  in  infancy 
that  the  wants  of  the  young  savage  are,  to  any  great  extent,  pro- 
vided for  by  his  parents.  Afterwards  he  feasts,  or  fasts,  like 
every  other  member  of  the  community,  as  abundance,  or  scarcity 
reigns  in  the  camp.  That  camp,  indeed,  may  be  said  to  form 
the  family  of  the  Indian.  His  whole  thoughts,  and  affections 
centre  there,  nor  has  he  any  cares  for  a  distant  futurity,  either 
for  himself,  or  his  offspring,  separated  from  the  common  suffer- 
ings or  enjoyments  of  his  tribe. 

Were  the  causes  determining  the  future  good  or  evil  flow- 
ing to  each  of  these  great  families,  to  be  within  reach  of  the 
energies  of  the  individuals  composing  them,  they  would  have  a 
steady  aim  for  their  exertions,  and  having  the  means,  might 
acquire  the  habit  of  purchasing  future  plenty,  and  security,  by 
present  toil,  and  privation,  and  of  tracing  out  with  certainty,  remote 
consequences,  to  immediate  acts.  But  this  is  a  mode  of  thought 
and  action,  to  wdiich  the  circumstances  of  their  condition  are  op- 
posed. As  the  utmost  pradence,  foresight,  and  fortitude,  can  but 
little  affect  the  future  welfare  of  the  individual,  so,  their  power 
to  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  society,  is  limited  and  precarious. 

If  a  tribe  of  hunters  occupy  a  healthy  territory,  and  one  plen- 
tifully supplied  with  game,  they  are  pressed  on  by  others,  eager 
to  seize  on  these  advantages,  and  so  are  continually  engaged  in 
destructive  wars.  While  the  individuals  composing  such  a  tribe, 
can  slaughter  their  foes,  that  is,  the  surrounding  tribes,  or  can 
drive  them  to  a  distance,  they  want  for  nothing.  The  defeat  of 
their  own  trib^,  is  the  only  calamity  they  have  to  dread.  This 
calamity  is  every  now  and  then  overtaking  them. 

War  is  always  a  game  of  hazard.  In  such  a  state  of  society 
it  is  peculiarly  hazardous.  There  the  art  of  war  is  surprise. 
The  scanty  population  which  the  chase  can  alone  maintain,  is 
divided  into  small  bands,  living  widely  apart — mere  points  in 
a  vast  continuity  of  wilderness.  In  such  situations  warfare  can 
never  be  open.    The  attacking  party  must  advance  with  secrecy  ; 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  133 

were  they  to  make  their  approach  known,  their  enemies  would 
only  wait  for  them,  if  convinced  of  their  own  superiority  ;  other- 
wise, they  ^70uld  retire,  and,  if  acting  prudently,  and  skilfully, 
never  suffer  themselves  to  be  seen,  unless  to  strike  their  foes, 
themselves  being  safe,  in  some  well-conducted  ambush.  But 
where  success  depends  upon  concealment,  and  surprise,  it  also 
depends  on  chance.  No  precautions  can  succeed  in  always 
guarding  a  small  band,  encamped  in  the  midst  of  a  great  forest, 
from  being  unexpectedly  assailed.  No  precautions  can  prevent 
the  track  of  a  party  advancing,  through  an  enemy's  country, 
from  being  occasionally  discovered.  Victory,  or  defeat,  and  all 
that  follow  them,  depend  on  the  slightest  accident.  Fortune  is 
a  goddess,  on  whose  influence  the  schemes  of  the  most  skilful, 
and  greatest  captains,  are  always  in  some  measure,  dependent, 
but  here  she  reigns  supreme. 

The  effects  of  these  circumstances  are  increased  by  the  char- 
acter of  the  laws  of  war  of  the  savage.  His  wars  are  wars  of 
extermination.  They  cannot  well  be  otherwise.  Were  he 
pressed  to  defend,  what  he  thinks  recjuires  no  defence,  but  is 
prepared  alike  to  execute  on  others,  or  suffer  himself,  he  might 
so  do  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  the  plea  which  man  always 
urges  for  every  evil  he  inflicts  on  his  fellows.  He  can  neither  safely 
let  his  enemies  go,  nor  possibly  retain  them  captive.  In  the 
former  case  they  would  be  as  much  to  be  dreaded  as  ever.  In 
the  woods  half  a  dozen  men  may  make  war  upon  a  nation,  as 
wars  are  there  conducted.  That  is,  they  may  waylay,  surprise, 
and  slaughter  detached  parts  of  them.  Nor  can  he  retain  cap- 
tives. They  would  both  be  useless,  and  ro.ust  escape.  A  plunge 
into  the  surrounding  forest  sets  them  free.  Hence  it  is  not  con- 
quest, as  with  other  warriors,  but  destmction,  that  is  his  aim,  and 
what  he  executes  on  others,  when  he  has  the  power,  he  sees 
continually  impending  over  him,  from  them,  when  fortune  gives 
them  the  power. 

Thus  the  whole  existence  of  the  hunter  is  chequered  by  quick 
changing  extremes.  Abundance,  famine,  the  fierce  joys  of  vic- 
tory, the  horrors  of  surprise  and  defeat,  rapidly  succeed  each 
other,  in  an  order  which  he  can  neither  pretend  to  foresee,  nor 
direct.  Like  all  men  in  similar  circumstances,  he  refers  the 
events,  of  which  his  being  is  the  sport,  to  the  continual  and 
capricious  agency,  of  supernatural  powers.     All  the  good  that 


134  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

happens  to  him,  is  from  their  having  been  propitious  to  his  de- 
signs, and  from  his  having  rightly  interpreted  their  omens  ;  all 
the  evil  that  befalls  him,  arises,  in  his  conception,  from  their 
hostility,  or  from  his  having  mistaken,  or  neglected,  some  vision, 
or  token  they  sent  him.  The  warrior  turns  back,  in  the  middle 
of  an  expedition,  if  his  sleep  be  disturbed  by  a  dream  betokening 
evil ;  the  unsuccessful  hunter  accuses  neither  his  unsteady  hand, 
nor  imperfect  sight,  but  some  magical  influence  hanging  on  his 
weapon  which  only  the  priest  or  sorcerer  can  therefore  remove. 
The  direction  of  all  events  whose  arrival  is  distant,  seems  thus  to 
the  hunter  of  the  woods  to  lie  entirely  beyond  his  control ;  and, 
instead  of  endeavoring  to  make  the  ease,  or  aWmdance  of  the 
present,  provide  for  the  evils  of  the  future,  he  prides  himself  in 
enjoying  the  good  of  to-day  undisturbed  by  a  single  care,  and,  in 
feeling,  and  knowing,  that  he  can  bear  the  ill  of  tomorrow  without 
a  murmur. 

Hence  the  Indian  has  a  character  altogether  his  own.  Feeling 
himself  hurried  on  by  the  course  of  events,  not  directing  it,  he 
thinks  as  Httle  of  refraining  from  the  pleasures  that  course  may 
offer  him,  as  of  shrinking  from  the  pains  to  which  it  may  expose 
him,  and  indulges,  therefore,  without  restraint,  in  the  enjoyments 
of  the  hour.  His  intellectual  faculties,  unaccustomed  to  deduce 
remote  consequences  from  immediate  causes,  and  still  less  accus- 
tomed to  adopt  as  a  ground  for  action,  and  to  watch,  carefully, 
and  anxiously,  any  concatenation  of  the  sort,  are  feeble ;  either 
in  themselves,  or  from  inaction.  His  passions,  on  the  contrary, 
are  strong.  Unaccustomed  to  reflection,  the  warm  and  generous 
feelings  of  affection  and  gratitude,  as  well  as  the  darker  ones  of 
hatred  and  revenge,  are  often  formed  hastily,  and  on  inadequate 
grounds,  but  while  they  last  they  are  exceedingly  vehement.  His 
tribe  forms  the  point  in  which  all  these  feelings  centre  ;  it  is  in  fact 
his  family,  with  which   all  his  joys  and  sorrows  are  in  common. 

An  attention  to  the  effects,  naturally  flowing  from  this  char- 
acter, will  explain  many  circumstances  in  the  present  con- 
dition, and  past  history  of  these  tribes,  which  are  in  themselves 
interesting,  and  which  are  closely  connected  with  our  sub- 
ject. Of  all  those  circumstances,  none  is  more  remarkable,  than 
their  neglecting,  or  refusing,  to  adopt  the  arts,  of  the  new  neigh- 
bors which  the  discovery  by  Europeans  of  the  country  they  in- 
habit, brought,  and  has  kept  in  contact  with  them.     Surrounded 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  135 

as  are  the  scattered  wrecks  of  those  once  numerous  tribes,  by  a 
great  people,  rapidly  converting  the  soil,  and  almost  whatever 
grows  on  it,  or  is  hid  beneath  it,  into  instruments,  capable  of 
plentifully  supplying  every  variety  of  future  want,  they  are  yet 
unable  to  imitate  them.  This  deficiency  among  them,  of  the 
effective  desire  of  accumulation,  the  principle  leading  to  the 
formation  of  instruments,  seems  to  arise  both  from  a  want  of  mo- 
tives to  exertion,  and  from  a  want  of  the  principles  and  habits  of 
action  which  would  lead  to  effective  exertion. 

The  settlement  of  their  country  by  the  European  race,  has  in 
itself,  gradually  diminished,  or  entirely  destroyed,  the  political 
importance  of  their  tribes,  and  consequently,  the  ties  binding 
too;ether  the  members  of  each  of  these  communities,  and  leading 
them  to  feel,  and  to  act,  in  common.  Nor  have  these  been  re- 
placed by  others.  Those  growing  out  of  the  family  relations,  in 
other  states  of  society,  —  the  anxious  prospective  care  of  the 
parent,  and  the  exertions,  the  pleasures,  and  the  duties  thence 
arising,  —  have  not  had  time  to  spring  up.  Hence  the  Indian 
continues  to  seek  shelter  in  apathy,  and  to  regard  life  and  its 
enjoyments,  both  for  himself  and  his  children,  as  did  his  fore- 
fathers, gifts  to  be  made  the  most  of  while  they  last,  but  which 
no  care  can  secure,  and  which,  therefore,  it  is  his  business  not  to 
provide  for  the  continuance  of,  but  to  learn  calmly  to  resign  when 
called  on.  He  thus  sits,  listless,  in  the  midst  of  the  incessant 
activity  and  industry  that  surround  him,  incapable  of  discovering 
an  adequate  cause  for  the  never-ceasing  care  and  toil.  The 
motives  that  excite  the  white  man,  though  possessed  of  means 
that  would  enable  him  with  his  more  needy  brethren,  abundantly 
to  enjoy  the  present,  to  devote  himself,  instead,  to  labors,  to 
which  no  season  brings  a  respite,  in  order  to  bring  about  events, 
that  may  provide  for  the  wants  of  some  remote  and  uncertain 
futurity,  are  to  him  incomprehensible.  Instead  of  applauding 
the  conduct,  in  his  secret  soul  he  censures  the  mean,  timorous, 
and,  as  it  seems  to  him,  selfish  spirit,  which  prompts  it. 

But,  besides  a  want  of  the  motives  exciting  to  provide  for  the 
needs  of  futurity,  through  means  of  the  abilities  of  the  present, 
there  is  a  want  of  the  habits  of  perception  and  action,  leading  to 
a  constant  connexion  in  the  mind  of  those  distant  points,  and  of 
the  series  of  events  serving  to  unite  them.  Even  therefore,  if, 
motives  be  awakened  capable  of  producing  the  exertion  neces- 


136  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

sary  to  effect  this  connexion,  there  remains  the  task  of  training 
the  mind  to  think,  and  act,  so  as  to  estabhsh  it. 

These  deficiencies  in  the  motives  to  exertion,  and  in  the  hab- 
its of  action  of  the  Indian,  serve  to  account  for  the  condition  of 
the  remnants  of  the  tribes  scattered  over  the  North  American 
continent,  in  situations  where  they  are  in  contact  with  the  white 
man.  There  is  a  general  similarity  throughout,  that  will,  I  be- 
lieve, render  an  example,  taken  from  one  part  of  the  continent, 
sufficiently  illustrative  of  the  state  of  the  whole. 

Upon  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  there  are  several  little 
Indian  villages.  They  are  surrounded,  in  general,  by  a  good 
deal  of  land  from  which  the  wood  seems  to  have  been  Ions:  ex- 
tirpated,  and  have,  besides,  attached  to  them,  extensive  tracts 
of  forest.  The  cleared  land  is  rarely,  I  may  almost  say  never, 
cultivated,  nor  are  any  inroads  made  in  the  forest  for  such  a  pur- 
pose.. The  soil  is,  nevertheless,  fertile,  and  were  it  not,  ma- 
nure lies  in  heaps  by  their  houses.  Were  every  family  to  inclose 
half  an  acre  of  ground,  till  it,  and  plant  in  it  potatoes  and  maize, 
it  would  yield  a  sufiiciency  to  support  them  one  half  the  year. 
They  suffer  too,  every  now  and  then,  extreme  want,  insomuch 
that,  joined  to  occasional  intemperance,  it  is  rapidly  reducing 
their  numbers.  This,  to  us,  so  strange  apathy  proceeds  not,  in 
any  great  degree,  from  repugnance  to  labor ;  on  the  contrary, 
they  apply  very  diligently  to  it,  when  its  rew^ard  is  immediate. 
Thus,  besides  their  peculiar  occupations  of  hunting .  and  fishing, 
in  which  they  are  ever  ready  to  engage,  they  are  much  employed 
in  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  may  be  seen  laboring 
at  the  oar,  or  setting  with  the  pole,  in  the  large  boats  used  for 
the  purpose,  and  always  furnish  the  greater  part  of  the  additional 
hands,  necessary  to  conduct  rafts  through  some  of  the  rapids. 
Nor  is  the  obstacle  avei'sion  to  agricultural  labor.  This  is  no 
doubt  a  prejudice  of  theirs;  but  mere  prejudices  always  yield, 
principles  of  action  cannot  be  created.  Where  the  returns  from 
agricultural  labor  are  speedy,  and  great,  they  are  also  agricultur- 
ists. Thus,  some  of  the  little  islands  on  lake  St.  Francis,  near 
the  Indian  village  of  St.  Regis,  are  favorable  to  the  growth  of 
maize,  a  plant,  yielding  a  return  of  a  hundred  fold,  and  forming, 
even  when  half  ripe,  a  pleasant  and  substantial  repast.  Patches 
of  the  best  land  on  these  islands  are,  therefore,  every  year,  cul- 
tivated by  them,  for  this  purpose.     As  their  situation  renders 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  137 

them  inaccessible  to  cattle,  no  fence  is  required  ;  were  this  ad- 
ditional outlay  necessary,  I  suspect  they  would  be  neglected, 
like  the  commons  adjoining  their  village.  These  had  apparently, 
at  one  time,  been  under  crop.  The  cattle  of  the  neighboring 
settlers,  would  now,  however,  destroy  any  crop,  not  securely 
fenced,  and  this  additional  necessary  outlay,  consequently  bars 
their  culture.  It  removes  them  to  an  order  of  instruments,  of 
slower  return,  than  that  which  corresponds  to  the  strength  of 
the  effective  desire  of  accumulation,  in  this  little  society. 

It  is  here  deserving  of  notice,  that  what  instruments  of  this 
sort  they  do  form,  are  completely  formed.  The  small  spots  of 
corn  they  cultivate  are  thoroughly  weeded,  and  hoed,  A  little 
neglect  in  this  part  would,  indeed,  reduce  the  crop  very  much  ; 
of  this  experience  has  made  them  perfectly  aware,  and  they  act 
accordingly.  It  is  evidently  not  the  necessary  labor,  that  is  the 
obstacle  to  much  more  extended  culture,  but  the  distant  return 
from  that  labor.  I  am  assured,  indeed,  that,  among  some  of  the 
more  remote  tribes,  the  labor  thus  expended,  much  exceeds 
that  given  by  the  whites.  The  same  portions  of  ground  being 
cropped  without  remission,  and  manure  not  being  used,  they 
would  scarce  yield  any  return,  were  not  the  soil  most  carefully 
broken,  and  pulverized,  both  with  the  hoe  and  the  hand.  In 
such  a  situation,  a  white  man  would  clear  a  fresh  piece  of  ground. 
It  would  perhaps  scarce  repay  his  labor  the  first  year,  and 
he  would  have  to  look  for  his  reward  in  succeeding  years. 
On  the  Indian  again,  succeeding  years  are  too  distant  to  make 
sufficient  impression,  though,  to  obtain  what  labor  may  bring 
about  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  he  toils  even  more  assid- 
uously than  the  white  man.  The  wages  of  labor  with  hitn,  are 
lower  than  with  the  white  man,  for  his  wants  are  fewer.  But 
for  this,  the  range  of  materials,  coming  within  reach  of  his  effec- 
tive desire  of  accumulation,  would  be  even  more  limited  than 
it  is,  and  the  amount  of  instruments  formed  by  him,  less. 

Similar  observations  will  apply  to  all  the  remnants  of  the  race, 
scattered  through  the  parts  of  the  North  American  continent,  to 
which  the  industry  and  enterprise  of  the  white  man,  have  brought 
modem  arts  and  civilization.  They  can  no  where  be  said  to 
form  an  agricultural  people.  All  the  great  tracts  of  land,  reserv- 
ed for  their  use,  throughout  the  continent,  retain  their  native  for- 
est character ;  and  it  is  only  at  great  intervals,  where  spots  of 

18 


138  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

soil  appear  offering  peculiar  facilities  for  cultivation,  that  the 
riches  of  the  earth  are  even  partially  brought  into  action.  When 
such  materials  are  neglected,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  others, 
requiring  greater  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  to  form 
them  into  instruments,  will  be  put  to  use.  None,  therefore,  even 
of  the  most  common  handicrafts,  which  they  see  the  white  man 
continually  exercising,  are  to  be  found  among  them.  The  axe, 
and  the  knife,  are  almost  their  only  tools.  Their  houses,  their 
furniture,  their  clothing  and  utensils  are  all  similar,  and  of  a  sort 
to  serve  only  the  needs  of  the  moment.  Nothing  is  either  re- 
served or  provided  for  a  futurity  in  any  ways  distant.  Their 
stock  of  instruments  being  thus  confined  to  such  as  are  of  the 
most  quickly  returning  orders,  a  vast  mass  of  materials  is  neglect- 
ed, which  by  another  race,  governed  by  other  principles  of  action, 
are  converted,  or  converting,  into  the  means  of  abundantly  sup- 
plying the  necessities,  and  enjoyments  of  a  numerous  population. 
They  thus  afford  a  striking  instance,  of  the  effects  resulting  from 
a  great  deficiency  of  strength  in  the  accumulative  principle. 
They  have  skill,  adequate  to  the  formation  of  instruments,  capa- 
ble of  ministering  to  the  necessities  and  comforts  of  a  numerous 
population,  for  with  the  powers  of  fire,  the  axe,  and  the  hoe,  the 
great  agents  in  converting  the  forest  to  the  field,  they  are  well 
acquainted  ;  they  have  industry,  content  with  a  very  moderate, 
if  immediate  reward  ;  yet,  from  inadequate  strength  in  this  prin- 
ciple, these  all  Ke  inert,  and  useless,  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest 
abundance  of  materials  ;  and,  the  means  for  existence  in  the 
time  to  come  not  being  provided,  as  what  was  future  becomes 
present,  want  and  misery  arrive  with  it,  and  these  tribes  are  dis- 
appearing before  them.  The  white  man  robs  their  woods  and 
waters  of  the  stores  with  which  nature  had  replenished  them, 
and  the  arts,  by  the  communication  of  which  he  would  compen- 
sate for  the  spoliation,  are  despised. 

Though  the  civilized  man  may  be  truly  said  to  have  been  the 
greatest  enemy  of  the  Indian,  yet  he  has, not  always  been  so 
wilfully,  and,  in  many  instances,  he  has  endeavored  to  be  his 
benefactor.  But,  though  his  endeavors  may  occasionally,  for  a 
time,  have  arrested  the  progress  of  the  evil,  they  have  never 
altogether  removed  it,  or  been  of  permanent  advantage.  Of  all 
attempts  of  the  kind,  that  of  the  Jesuits,  in  Paraguay,  seems  to 
have  been  productive  of  most  good,  and  to  have  given  the  fairest 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  139 

promise  of  ultimate  success.  This  partial  success,  is  evidently 
to  be  traced,  to  the  usual  talent  of  those  fathers,  in  a  clear  per- 
ception of  the  actual  circumstances  of  the  condition,  and  disposi- 
tion of  the  men  with  whom  they  had  to  deal,  and  to  their  usual 
ability  in  converting  these  circumstances  into  means  of  accom- 
plishing the  ends  they  had  in  view. 

Their  plan  presents  two  great  features.  They  wrought  upon 
the  Indians  through  that,  which  was  alone  in  them  capable  of 
exciting  to  extended  action,  their  love  of  their  several  nations, 
and  devotion  to  their  interests  :  they  took  every  means  to  show 
them  that  they  could,  and  would,  promote  these  interests,  and 
thus  identifying  themselves  with  the  national  existence  and  pros- 
perity, transferred  to  their  order,  a  large  portion  of  the  strong 
feelino-s  arising  from  benefits  received  from,  and  obligations  and 
duties  owdng  to  his  tribe,  which  are  the  great  movers,  and  rulers, 
of  the  being  of  the  Indian. 

The  efforts  of  the  missionaries  seem  first  to  have  been  directed 
to  convince  the  chiefs,  and  leaders,  of  the  several  tribes  to  which 
they  penetrated,  of  the  sincerity  of  then:  desire  to  be  of  service 
to  them.  As  the  messengers  of  a  religion,  promising  peace  on 
earth,  and  immortal  happiness  after  death,  they  had  claims  on 
their  attention  which  are  foreign  to  our  subject.  Besides  these 
however,  as  the  possessors  of  the  arts  and  powers  of  civilization, 
they  had  others,  which  were  more  palpable  to  the  comprehen- 
sion of  the  savage.  Europeans  were  known  by  this  unfortunate 
race,  as  possessors  of  powers  so  great,  as  to  appear  supernatural  ; 
but  they  had  hitherto  been  known  only  as  enemies  and  oppres- 
sors, the  bearers  of  unspeakable  calamities  or  utter  ruin.  Once 
then  they  were  convinced,  that  the  white  men  who  now  came  to 
them,  were  really  friends,  and  were  desirous  of  exerting  those 
powers  for  their  preservation  and  happiness,  which  had  hitherto 
been  employed  for  their  destmction,  they  were  ready  to  welcome 
them  as  their  best  benefactors,  and  most  powerful  protectors. 
The  usual  intelligence,  prudence,  and  fortitude  of  the  fathers  did 
not  desert  them  on  this  occasion,  and,  though  not  without  the 
expense  of  the  martyrdom  of  several  of  the  order,  they  succeeded 
in  impressing  the  Indians  with  the  belief,  that  they  were  really 
their  friends.  The  rest  of  the  task  was  comparatively  easy. 
Convinced  on  this  head,  the  savages  willingly,  and  immediately, 
became  docile  disciples.    Fully  satisfied  of  the  advantages,  which 


140  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

European  arts  give  to  a  people,  they  set  themselves  with  zeal  to 
acquire  and  practise  them,  for  the  benefit  of  their  several  tribes. 
Though  not  for  his  individual  advantage,  or  that  of  his  family, 
would  the  Indian  sacrifice  present  pleasure  or  embrace  present 
toil ;  for  the  good  of  his  nation  he  had  been  taught,  and  was  ready 
to  bear,  or  forbear,  any  thing.  The  Jesuits  had,  therefore,  only 
to  teach  what  it  was  necessary  to  do,  or  endure.  The  details 
they  have  left  us  of  their  progress,  are  generally  interesting, 
sometimes  amusing,  not  unfrequently,  to  those  unacquainted  with 
the  peculiarities  of  the  Indian  character,  almost  incredible. 

They  themselves,  in  the  first  instance,  taught  their  proselytes 
how  agricultural  operations  were  to  be  performed,  by  taking  the 
spade,  and  other  instruments,  in  their  own  hands.  But,  when 
thus,  by  precept  and  example,  they  had  brought  them  to  be  able 
to  execute  the  several  operations  of  ploughing,  sowing,  reaping, 
he.  the  difficulty  was  but  half  over.  Without  the  constant 
superintendency,  and  vigilance,  of  their  instructers,  they  never 
would  have  practised  them.  Thus,  at  first,  if  these  gave  up  to 
them  the  care  of  the  oxen  with  which  they  ploughed,  their  in- 
dolent thoughtlessness  would  probably  leave  them  at  evening 
still  yoked  to  the  implement.  Worse  than  this,  instances  occurred 
where  they  cut  them  up  for  supper,  thinking,  when  reprehended, 
that  they  sufficiently  excused  themselves  by  saying,  they  were 
hungry. 

By  the  indefatigable  persev^erance,  and  dexterous  management 
of  the  missionaries,  they  were,  however,  at  last,  brought  so  to 
labor  the  earth,  as,  in  that  fertile  soil  and  warm  climate,  to  pro- 
duce abundant  returns.  They  were  also  at  peace  with  one 
another,  and  feared  by  their  enemies.  The  tranquillity,  the 
security,  and  the  plenty,  they  thus  enjoyed,  gave  the  Jesuits 
additional  claims  on  their  confidence  and  gratitude,  which  the 
good  fathers  seem  to  have  taken  care  should  be  made  sufficiently 
apparent  to  them.  Hence  it  was,  as  Charlevoix  tells  us,  that  they 
thought  they  could  never  sufficiently  testify  their  affection  and 
gratitude  for  those,  who  had  rescued  them  from  barbarism  and 
idolatry,  and  who,  in  spite  of  the  most  severe  persecution,  and 
the  greatest  toil,  had  procured  them  all  the  advantages  they 
enjoyed.  They  continually  recalled  to  mind  the  miserable  state 
firom  which  they  had  been  brought,  the  parents  instructed  their 
children,  and  they  saw,  with  their  own  eyes,  the  condition  of  the 
neighboring  nations,  who  had  not  participated  in  their  happiness. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  141 

It  was  by  no  means  wonderful,  as  he  continues,  that  these  things 
produced  an  attachment  for  the  missionaries,  that  was  without 
bounds. 

The  additional  authority  and  influence  thus  acquired,  they 
employed  in  enforcing  stricter  obedience,  and  increased  industry, 
and  gradually  leading  on  their  disciples  to  the  practice  of  the 
finer  and  more  difficult  arts.  In  this  they  perfectly  succeeded, 
so  that  there  were  every  where  to  be  seen,  says  the  same 
autlior,  workshops  of  gilders,  painters,  sculptors,  goldsmiths, 
watchmakers,  carpenters,  joiners,  dyers,  &c.  In  the  exercise  of 
these  useful  and  ornamental  arts,  we  must  not  suppose  the 
artists  were  animated  by  the  motives  that  excite  similar  labors 
elsewhere.  They  seem  scarcely  to  have  had  an  idea  of  personal 
property,  or  individual  gain,  but  to  have  been  as  mere  children, 
looking  up  to  the  Jesuits  for  every  thing,  and  ready  to  do  every 
thing  for  them,  or  submit  to  any  thing  from  them. 

"  These  fathers,"  says  Ulloa,  "  have  to  visit  the  houses,  to  ex- 
amine what  is  really  wanted ;  for,  without  this  care,  the  Indians 
would  never  look  after  any  thing.  They  must  be  present  too, 
when  animals  are  slaughtered,  not  only  that  the  meat  may  be 
equally  divided,  but  that  nothing  may  be  lost."  "  It  has  been  ne- 
cessary," says  Charlivoix,  "  to  appoint  superintendents,  who 
inspect  every  thing  accurately,  and  see  if  they  are  busy,  if  their 
cattle  are  in  good  condition,  &:c.  The  labors  of  the  women  are 
regulated,  as  well  as  those  of  the  men.  At  the  besfinnino;  of  the 
week,  there  is  distributed  among  them,  a  certain  quantity  of  wool, 
and  cotton,  which  they  are  obliged  to  return,  on  Saturday  eve- 
ning, ready  for  the  loom.  But,  notwithstanding  all  this  care  and 
superintendence,  and  all  the  precautions  which  are  taken  to  pre- 
vent any  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  the  missionaries  are 
sometimes  much  embarrassed.  This  proceeds  from  three  defects, 
of  which  the  Indians  have  not  yet  been  corrected,  their  improvi- 
dence, indolence,*  and  want  of  economy,  so  that,  it  often  happens, 
that  they  do  not  reserve  themselves  a  sufficiency  of  grain,  even  for 
seed.  As  for  their  other  provisions,  were  they  not  well  looked 
after,  they  would  soon  be  without  wherewithal  to  support  life." 

*  Indolence  and  improvidence  are,  in  our  system,  reduced  to  one  defect. 
Indolence  is,  the  not  laying  out  present  labor  to  secure  future  abundance. 
Improvidence,  the  squandering  present  abundance,  in  disregard  of  future 
coming  want.  They  both  proceed  from  the  predominance  of  the  present  over 
the  future,  the  low  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation. 


142  OF   THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

The  mode  of  operation,  which  the  Jesuits  adopted,  had  un- 
doubtedly the  advantage  of  bringing  out  all  the  energies  of  the 
Indian.  He  was  thus  induced  willingly,  and  therefore  zealously, 
and  successfully,  to  apply  his  powers  to  the  acquisition  and  prac- 
tice of  European  arts,  and,  while  the  missionaries  maintained 
their  power,  and  formed  a  part  of  the  polity  which  their  sagaciiy 
and  perseverance  had  established,  it  gave  every  token  of  pros- 
perity and  vigor.  Their  prudence  and  providence  led  into 
efficient  action  the  desire,  which  every  individual  felt  for  the 
future  prosperity  of  his  tribe.  The  powers  of  the  social  and 
benevolent  affections  of  the  mass  had  free  course,  and  what  was 
wanting  in  intellectual  energy,  being  supplied  by  the  fathers,  the 
desire  of  accumulation  of  the  whole  body  became  sufficiently 
effective  and  strong,  to  form  a  larger  stock  of  instruments.  What, 
therefore,  might,  at  first  sight,  strike  us  as  the  most  difficult  part 
of  the  project,  the  establishing  a  community  of  goods,  and  inter- 
ests, was,  in  reality,  that  which  rendered  it  of  easy  execution. 
With  all  the  advantages  attending  such  a  form  of  society,  the 
freedom  from  strife,  jealousy,  contention,  and  care,  enjoyed  by 
the  great  majority,  it  had  also  the  disadvantage  of  requiring,  and 
therefore  exciting,  in  the  multitude,  little,  or  no  exertion  of  the 
intellectual  faculties.  The  converts  had  become,  or  were  be- 
coming, mere  machines  in  the  hands  of  the  missionaries.  The 
whole  stock  of  instruments  formed  by  the  common  labor,  was 
in  the  possession  of  the  fathers,  and  the  share  which  the  Indians 
received  of  the  returns,  depended  "on  their  pleasure.  They  were 
in  fact  regarded  as  beings  of  a  superior  order,  whose  actions  were 
of  necessity  right,  and  whose  slightest  wishes  were  laws. 

If  we  judge  from  what  is  known  of  the  state  of  the  American 
continent  at  its  discovery,  it  would  seem  that  this  form  of  society, 
is  that  which  the  hunter,  changing  directly  to  the  agriculturist, 
naturally  assumes.  His  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  tribe, 
passes  there  into  affection  for  the  person,  and  blind  obedience  to 
the  will  of  the  chief.  The  accounts  we  have  of  the  condition  of 
the  kingdoms  that  the  Spaniards  found  established  in  the  most 
fertile  regions  of  the  continent,  describe  the  power  which  the 
rulers  possessed,  and  the  reverence  paid  them,  as  excessive. 
The  people  seem  to  have,  in  general,  approached  the  condition 
of  slaves,  and  to  have  had  a  large  share  of  the  defects  of  that 
condition,  a  want  of  intelligence  and  energy. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  143. 

Our  own  barbarian  ancestors,  such  as  they  are  described  by 
Tacitus,  have  been  often  hkened  to  the  savage  aborigenes  of 
North  America.  But,  though  there  may  be  some  points  of 
resemblance,  the  parallel  will  be  found  to  fail,  in  several  impor- 
tant particulars,  which,  as  they  seem  to  have  operated  through 
the  influence  they  have  exerted  on  that  principle,  the  effects  of 
which  we  are  at  present  considering,  may  be  allowed  to  claim 
our  attention  for  a  little. 

The  race,  whose  occupation  of  the  forests  and  wildernesses;,  to 
the  northward  of  the  Roman  Empire,  made  these,  in  the  days  of 
its  strength,  to  be  regarded  as  the  regions  of  mystery  and  wonder, 
in  those  of  its  weakness,  of  well-founded,  and  increasing  anxiety, 
and  dread,  were  properly  shepherd  warriors.  Though  the  ex- 
citement of  the  chase  frequently  gave  fit  employment  to  their 
ardent  spirits,  and  its  toils  to  their  hardy  frames,  and  though  its 
products  ministered  to  many  of  their  wants,  their  cattle  were  yet 
their  main  support,  and  to  provide  for  the  sustenance  of  these, 
their  great  business.  But  the  possession  of  flocks  and  herds, 
implies  a  considerable  degree  of  care  and  foresight,  both  in  pro- 
tecting, and  making  provision  for  them,  and  in  avoiding  to  con- 
sume too  great  a  number  of  them.  It  also  implies  the  existence 
of  private  property  to  a  large  amount,  and,  consequently,  of 
strength  in  the  ties  binding  families  together.  The  parent,  if  he 
desires  to  see  his  offspring  enjoy  plenty,  must  exert  himself  to 
procure  it  for  them.  The  performance  of  this  duty  gives  him 
claims  on  their  gratitude,  and  draws  closer  the  connexion  between 
them.  The  sort  of  life  they  lead  too,  demands  less  of  severe 
exertion,  and  affords  longer  intervals  of  ease.  It  brings  them 
too^ether  in  larger  bands  and  societies,  of  which  each  member  has 
rights  to  defend,  and  interests  to  provide  for,  and  thus  produces 
the  rudiments  of  law,  justice,  and  the  policy  of  civilized  society. 

War  may  be  said  to  be  natural  to  them,  as  well  as  to  hunters, 
but  it  is  always  open  ;  concealment  is  out  of  the  question  ;  their 
greater  numbers,  and  the  necessity  of  having  always  with  them  a 
large  train  of  domestic  animals,  render  it  impracticable.  They 
have  not  therefore  to  fear  being  surprised  and  overcome,  before 
they  can  have  time  to  defend  themselves.  Hence,  the  members 
of  a  numerous  and  warlike  pastoral  nation,  live  in  comparative 
security.  They  see  that  chance  has  less  influence,  prudence 
and  resolution  more.    They  perceive  that  they  are  not  altogether 


144  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

the  sport  of  destiny,  but  that  their  fate  depends,  in  a  great 
measure,  on  themselves.  Their  minds  are  less  shaken,  and  their 
judgments  less  clouded  by  superstitious  fears  and  imaginings. 
The  greater  security  they  enjoy  renders  them  also  less  relent- 
lessly cruel.  Utterly  to  exterminate  their  enemies  is  not  neces- 
sary ;  to  break,  and  drive  them  off,  is  sufficient.  When,  there- 
fore, the  fury  of  the  fight  is  over,  mercy  has,  with  them,  a  place. 

All  these  circumstances  pertaining  to  the  condition  of  pastoral 
nations  tend  strongly  to  excite  the  social  and  benevolent  affec- 
tions, and  the  powers  of  reason  and  reflection,  and  to  give  scope 
to  their  action  among  them.  The  pastoral  ancestors  of  the  pre- 
sent European  race  were  fierce,  cruel,  and  vindictive  barbarians  ^ 
yet,  spite  of  these  forbidding  features  of  their  character,  we  can 
as  distinctly  trace  to  them  the  sources  of  all  the  more  generous 
and  softer  virtues,  that  give  happiness  to  their  descendants,  as 
we  can  the  free  and  independent  spirit  that  bestows  on  them 
liberty  and  security.  Such  nations  have,  therefore,  naturally  a 
much  higher  efi:ective  desire  of  accumulation  than  nations  of  mere 
hunters.  The  strength  of  this  principle,  in  fact,  seems  with  them 
in  general,  so  great,  as  to  incline  them  to  form  instruments  re- 
quiring a  much  superior  degree  of  providence  and  self-denial,  to 
that  indicated  by  the  breeding  of  cattle.  They  are  prevented 
from  doing  so,  by  their  wandering  life,  and  by  the  wars  in  which 
they  are  necessarily  constantly  engaged.  When,  for  instance,  they 
are  settled  in  a  country  suited  to  agriculture,  and  to  which  the 
knowledge  of  the  art  has  penetrated,  they  have  a  tendency  to  be- 
come agriculturists  ;  that  is,  to  change  the  land,  from  which  they 
draw  their  subsistence,  from  an  instrument  yielding  a  large  return, 
in  proportion  to  the  labor  bestowed  on  it,  to  one  yielding  a  still 
larger  return,  though  requiring  proportionally  more  labor  and 
time,  and  being,  therefore,  of  a  more  slowly  returning  order. 

But  such  a  change,  though  increasing  the  whole  population  of 
the  state,  leaves  fewer  in  it  who  can  be  spared  from  labor,  and, 
consequently,  fewer  soldiers.  In  pastoral  nations,  almost  all  the 
men  are  warriors  ;  in  agricultural,  only  a  few  can  be  withdrawn 
from  the  labors  of  the  field.  The  latter  are  therefore,  naturally 
inferior  to  the  former  in  military  prowess,  and  are  consequently 
subject  to  be  conquered  and  destroyed  by  them.  Such  seems 
to  have  been  the  fate  impending  over  Gaul,  from  the  side  of 
Germany,  when  the  appearance  of  Caesar  gave  another  turn  to 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  145 

affairs.  The  Gauls,  we  learn  from  him,  though  then  inferior, 
had  once  been  superior,  in  military  renown,  to  the  Germans.  It 
appears  likely,  that  the  revolution  had  been  occasioned,  by  their 
becoming  an  agricultural  people,  which  they,  in  a  great  measure, 
were,  in  his  time.  The  Germans,  again,  preserved  themselves 
from  the  fatal  eflects  of  such  a  change,  by  the  singular  national 
custom,  or  constitution,  that  obliged  them  all,  every  year,  to  ex- 
change the  lands  they  respectively  occupied.  By  this  constant 
transfer  of  instruments,  and  of  the  materials  of  which  they  might 
be  formed,  they  took  away  every  inducement  to  work  them  up 
into  orders  of  slow  return,  and  confined  the  members  of  the 
community  to  the  pastoral  condition,  which  experience  had 
doubtless  instructed  them,  was  most  favorable  to  military  prowess. 
In  the  times  of  the  Caesars,  Europe  was  thus  divided,  by  an 
irregular  line  running  east  and  west,  into  two  great  parts, 
the  one  occupied  by  the  barbarians,  the  other  by  the  Empire. 
To  the  northward  of  this  line,  were  many  rude  nations,  strong  in 
the  mental  and  corporeal  energies  of  the  individuals  composing 
them,  and  in  the  willingness  of  each  to  devote  his  abilities  to 
objects  conducive  to  the  good  of  all,  but  whose  strength  was 
largely  expended  in  furious  intestine  wars.  These  contests, 
destructive  as  they  were,  did  not,  however,  occasion  any  pro- 
gressive diminution  of  the  vigor  of  the  whole  body  ;  it  was 
only  the  surplus  powers  of  the  parts  that  thus  ran  to  waste. 
The  strength  of  the  people  of  the  empire  was,  on  the  contrary, 
derived,  from  their  union  in  one  great  body,  and  the  power 
thence  resulting  of  the  energies  of  the  whole  being  directed  to 
any  particular  point.  But  this  union,  as  it  had  been  produced 
by  compulsion,  augured  weakness  in  the  several  parts,  and  was 
the  cause  of  weakness.  What  each  contributed  to  the  common 
good  was  not  of  will,  but  from  necessity,  and,  in  the  strife  thus 
arising,  every  man  learned  to  consider  his  own  good  as  separate 
from  that  of  all  others.  Hence  a  continually  increasing  separa- 
tion of  interests,  and  consequent  continual  decrease  of  power  and 
general  decline.  The  gradually  increasing  weakness  of  the  em- 
pire, while  the  strength  of  the  nations  to  the  northward,  if  not 
augmenting,  remained  at  least  unimpaired,  rendered  the  arrival 
of  a  period  wdien  the  former  should  be  overpowered  by  the  latter 
inevitable.  These  barbarians  believed,  that  the  riches  of  the 
earth  belonged,  of  right,  to  the  best ;  according  to   their  creed, 

19 


^46  C)F  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

the  bravest.  Their  most  powerful  and  warlike  tribes,  therefore, 
possessing  themselves  of  the  more  fertile  regions,  those  bordering 
on  the  line  dividing  them  from  the  empire,  pressed  violently 
against  it,  and,  opposed  by  a  force  continually  diminishing,  at 
lenoth  burst  through  it. 

Three  great  events,  each  leading  on  this  other,  would  seem  to 
have  been  the  necessary  consequence  of  this  revolution.  Of 
these,  the  first  was  the  occupation  of  the  whole  continent  by  the 
barbarians,  and  the  driving  back  the  still  onward-urging  host  of 
their  brethren  ;  the  adoption  by  them  of  the  arts  which  had 
previously  flourished  in  the  empire,  and  their  becoming  an  agri- 
cultural people,  was  the  second  ;  and  their  running  the  chance 
of  being  in  turn  overpowered  by  the  northern  warriors,  the  third. 
Until  the  arrival  of  the  first  period,  when,  the  continent  having 
been  completely  overrun  and  ravaged  by  the  barbarian  multitude, 
had  assumed  a  form  closely  approximating  to  that  of  the  territo- 
ries they  had  formerly  occupied,  there  could  be  no  approach  to 
rest,  but  the  tide  must  still  advance.  When  the  receptacle 
vacant  for  its  reception  was  once  completely  filled,  the  mighty 
mass  had  to  recoil  on  itself.  The  battle  of  Chalons  fixes  this 
period.  Europe,  with  the  exception  of  the  corner  occupied  by 
the  Eastern  Empire,  and  which  belonged  rather  to  Asia  than  to 
it,  seems  then  to  have  been  nearly  reduced  to  the  state  of  one 
immense  cattle-pasture.  But  the  impetus  that  had  been  given 
still  continued,  and  new  hosts  crowded  on  to  share  that,  of  which 
the  last  fragments  had  been  divided.  The  reflux  then  of  neces- 
sity took  place.  The  hosts  of  the  west  and  the  south,  under 
Theodoric  and  Elius,  met  those  of  the  east  and  the  north,  under 
Attilla,  on  the  plains  of  Champaigne.  The  vastness  of  the 
masses  and  the  violence  of  the  shock  are  shown  by  the  destruc- 
tion produced ;  the  accounts  of  the  period  rating  the  slaughter 
variously  at  from  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  thousand  to  three 
hundred  thousand. 

From  this  period  the  great  body  neither  much  advancing  nor 
receding,  was  Agitated  chiefly  by  fierce  internal  commotions. 
The  time  when  their  violence  terminated  marks  the  second 
period,  when  the  general  prevalence  of  agriculture,  lessening  the 
number  of  warriors,  diminished  the  extent  and  frequency  of  wars. 
The  knowledge  of  the  elements  of  it,  and  of  the  other  arts,  dif- 
fused throughout  the  various  multitude  that  now  peopled  the 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  147 

continent,  could  not  forever  lie  dormant.  It  has  been  already 
observed,  that  the  strength  of  their  eftective  desire  of  accumula- 
tion, had  been  such  as  to  produce  a  tendency  among  them  to 
give  greater  capacity  even  to  the  materials  of  wliich  they  had 
the  command  in  the  northern  regions,  though  at  the  expense  of 
changing  them  into  instruments  of  somewhat  slower  return,  by 
converting  their  lands  from  pasture  to  tillage.  This  tendency 
became  inevitably  stronger,  as  they  advanced  into  more  fertile 
soils  and  milder  climates.  The  revolution  itself  took  place  grad- 
ually. The  exact  date  of  the  preponderance  of  the  one  condition 
over  the  other,  cannot,  perhaps,  be  determined  but  by  the  efiects 
produced  by  its  arrival.  It  is  only  in  the  state  of  hunters,  or 
sheplierds,  that  nation  can  literally  go  to  war  with  nation.  In 
the  agricultural  state,  it  is  not  the  men  of  the  nation,  but  a  small 
part  of  them,  the  soldiery,  that  fight.  Taking  this  as  the  criterion, 
we  might  fix  the  reign  of  Charlemagne  as  that,  in  wiiich  war,  as 
the  business  of  European  nations,  properly  ceased.  The  con- 
clusion of  that  monarch's  reign,  has  sometimes  been  reckoned 
the  commencement  of  a  period  of  weakness  in  the  several  states, 
and  of  want  of  ability  in  their  monarchs.  The  historian,  it  is 
true,  for  centuries  afterwards,  finds  no  events  that  he  esteems 
great  to  record.  His  art  can  call  up  no  pictures  of  heroes  lead- 
ing armies  to  the  field,  conquering,  or  being  conquered,  over- 
throwing, or  establishing  kingdoms.  Nevertheless,  if  the  view 
we  are  taking  is  correct,  it  is  from  this  era  that  we  must  date  the 
commencement  of  strength,  not  of  weakness.  The  people  of 
Europe  then  began  to  rise  in  the  scale  of  industry.  They  com- 
menced a  new  era,  to  which  no  one  can  assign  a  positive  termi- 
nation, because  it  became  their  occupation  to  conquer  nature, 
and  not  man,  and,  to  the  fruits  of  the  one  conquest,  Ave  can  set 
no  limit,  whereas  the  utmost  advantages  of  the  other  are  very 
speedily  exhausted. 

It  may  here  be  observed,  that  the  difference  of  the  strength  of 
the  principle  of  accumulation  in  nations  of  hunters,  and  in  pas- 
toral nations,  seems  to  mark  out  a  very  opposite  destiny  to  a 
great  country  overrun  by  the  one,  to  that  which  would  await  it 
from  being  subdued  by  the  other.  The  naturally  low  degree  of 
strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  among  nations  of  hunters, 
prevents  them,  as  we  have  seen,  from  forming  instruments  of 
sufiiciently  slow  return  to  embrace  the  materials  to  which  the 


148  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

arts  of  civilized  life  might  give  capacity.  While  in  their  posses- 
sion, therefore,  they  lie  unemployed,  and  useless.  The  progress 
of  civilization  and  art,  over  the  continent  of  North  America,  is 
now,  every  day,  bringing  to  light  traces  of  their  former  presence, 
and  evidence,  consequently,  of  the  existence  there  at  some  remote 
period,  of  a  people  far  superior  in  these  respects  to  the  tribes  that 
occupied  all  but  the  southern  parts,  when  discovered  by  Euro- 
peans. The  question  has  been  asked,  how  did  it  happen  that 
they,  and  the  knowledge  and  power  they  possessed,  utterly  per- 
ished ?  In  other  instances,  civilization  has  either  protected  its 
possessors,  or,  if  they  were  overcome,  has  reacted  on  their  con- 
querors, and  spreading  among  them,  has,  so  to  say,  subjugated 
and  governed  them  in  turn.  The  history  of  our  own  barbarian 
ancestors  has  been  quoted,  as  a  circumstantial  account  of  this 
seemingly  natural  progress.  But,  if  the  principles,  the  operation 
of  which  forms  our  present  subject,  be  correct,  they  furnish  a 
sufficient  cause  for  the  diversity  of  effects,  flowing  from  the  two 
events,  and  show,  that,  instead  of  there  being  any  reason  for  sur- 
prise at  the  hunter  of  the  woods  disdaining  the  labors  and  re- 
wards of  civilization,  it  is  rather  our  business  to  inquire  how  he 
could  ever  have  been  led  to  adopt  them.  Had  the  nations  whom 
the  north  poured  forth  on  the  south  of  Europe,  been  hunters, 
and,  had  no  extraneous  cause  intervened,  it  is  not  improbable, 
that  that  continent  would,  even  at  the  present  day,  have  been 
one  wide  forest  from  side  to  side. 

The  third  of  the  great  events  referred  to,  the  evils  and  dangers 
arising  to  the  ancestors  of  the  present  inhabitants  of  Europe,  from 
their  former  brethren  of  the  north  and  east,  when  the  strength  of 
their  accumulative  principle  led  them  to  put  off  the  barbarian,  and 
employ  themselves  in  giving  to  the  materials  within  their  reach  the 
capabiUties  for  the  supply  of  the  wants  of  futurity  which  art  showed 
that  they  possessed,  were  felt  for  many  centuries.  The  change  they 
were  then  undergoing,  though  it  added  very  greatly  to  the  total 
numbers  of  the  several  nations,  lessened  the  numbers  of  the  warriors. 
The  instruments  they  formed  being  of  the  more  slowly  returning 
orders,  though  the  whole  income  from  them  was  much  greater, 
the  labor  necessary  to  produce  it  was  more  than  proportionally 
greater,  and  the  portion  of  the  population  left  free  for  the  pur- 
poses of  warfare  was  consequently  less.  It  were  foreign  to 
our  purpose  farther   to  allude  to  this  cause  of  commotion  and 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  149 

revolution,  than  to  observe,  that  the  mischiefs  and  clangers 
arising  from  it,  seem  to  have  been  moderated  by  the  very  gradual 
manner  in  which  the  change  took  place,  and  to  have  been  coun- 
teracted, and  finally  overcome  by  the  additional  power  acquired 
through  the  progress  of  invention  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life. 

The  next  example  I  shall  adduce,  of  the  influence  of  the  accu- 
mulation principle,  will  be  that  of  the  Chinese  Empire.  All 
accounts  agree  in  ascribing  to  the  people  of  this  Empire,  a 
peculiarity  running  through  the  whole  structure  of  their  social 
and  domestic  life,  by  which  alone  perhaps  its  mechanism  can 
be  well  explained,  and  which  seems  to  form  its  great  gov- 
erning and  sustaining  principle.  Their  moralists  and  legislators 
appear  to  have  successfully  endeavored  to  give  to  the  feelings, 
naturally  springing  from  the  parental  and  family  relations,  an 
influence  and  authority,  far  superior  to  what  these  possess 
among  other  nations,  —  the  power  and  unity  of  a  regular  sys- 
tem of  duties  and  obligations.  A  father,  as  the  immediate, 
though  secondary  cause  of  existence,  is  regarded  with  much  of 
the  feelings  that  are  elsewhere  reserved  for  the  infinite  and  eter- 
nal fountain  of  all  existence,  power,  and  perfection,  and,  conse- 
quently, claims,  as  a  sacred  right,  a  measure  of  love,  reverence, 
and  obedience,  that  to  us  seems  perfectly  unnatural.  Both  while 
alive,  and  after  his  death,  he  is  reverenced,  w^e  might  say  adored. 
His  descendants  form  a  little  distinct  society  bound  together  by 
the  strongest  ties,  a  system  apart  from  all  others,  having  a  com- 
mon centre  of  action  of  its  own.  What  is  conceived  to  be  a  reality 
in  families,  is  metaphorically  applied  to  the  whole  empire,  and 
its  several  parts.  The  emperor  is  the  father  of  his  people,  his 
affection  for  them  as  his  children  is  held  to  be  the  animating 
principle  of  his  actions,  implicit  obedience  to  him  as  their  parent, 
who  can  only  command  what  is  good,  is  the  first  duty  of  his 
subjects.  Each  inferior  magistrate  is  also  regarded  as  the  father 
of  those  over  whom  he  rules. 

The  result  has  been  so  far  happy,  that  the  harshness  of  des- 
potism is  somewhat  tempered  by  the  mildness  of  the  paternal 
character.  We  are  so  constituted,  that  no  part  can  be  assumed, 
and  habitually  acted,  without,  in  some  degree,  moulding  our 
nature  to  its  form,  and  making  that  a  reality,  which  may  at  first 
have  been  only  a  fiction.  It  has  also  been  happy  in  the  strength 
it  has  given  to  the  connexions  and  affections  of  those  belonging 


150  OT   THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

to  the  same  family,  or  springing  from  the  same  stock.  A  man 
must  be  strongly  excited  to  good,  and  deterred  from  evil,  by 
being  aware  that  his  actions  and  fortunes  are  the  objects  of  solici- 
tude to  every  member  of  the  little  community  to  whom  he  is 
bound  by  the  ties  of  blood  and  kindredship  ;  that  they  rejoice  at 
whatever  he  accomplishes  that  is  honorable  and  happy  ;  and  are 
afflicted  and  disgraced  by  his  imprudencies  and  errors. 

But,  viewing  the  system  on  another  side,  we  may  perceive 
that  evil  has  sprung  out  of  it.  The  blending  of  the  characters  of 
parent  and  lord,  and  thus  making  of  each  head  of  a  family  an 
absolute  master,  the  judge  of  right  and  wrong,  places  man  in  a 
situation  dangerous  to  his  weakness.  It  may  encourage,  at  all 
events,  it  enables  him  to  gratify  without  fear,  whatever  vice  or 
immorality  is  not  necessarily  open  or  declared,  but  may  have  a 
veil,  however  thin,  of  outward  decorum  thrown  over  it.  Besides 
this,  the  absolute  submission  and  unreflecting  obedience,  which  it 
inculcates,  are  much  opposed  to  the  expansion  of  the  intellectual 
and  moral  powers.  When  all  impulses  are  from  without,  it  is 
impossible  that  the  mental  eye  should  turn  steadily  on  the  divinity 
within,  or  promptly  and  resolutely  execute,  what  it  dictates. 

We  perceive  a  great  attempt  to  organize  a  society,  animated 
by  the  principles  of  love  and  affection,  regulated  by  those  of 
virtue.  The  form  indeed  exists,  but  under  it  there  is  little  sub- 
stance. Hence  is  generated  a  mass  of  apparent  contradictions  ; 
viewed  in  one  light,  we  see  a  great  family,  w^isely  and  beneficently 
governed  ;  in  the  other,  a  servile  herd,  crouching  beneath  the 
sharp  lash  of  selfish  despotism.  On  the  one  hand  is  presented 
to  us  a  people,  among  whom  doctrines  of  a  very  pure  morality, 
of  universal  benevolence,  of  devotion  to  the  public  good,  are 
inculcated  both  by  reward  and  precept ;  among  whom  learning 
is  held  in  such  esteem  as  to  be  the  sure,  and,  in  theory  at  least, 
almost  the  only  road  to  honor  and  authority  ;  among  whom  the 
freedom  of  the  press  may  be  said  to  have  been  established  a 
thousand  years  ;*  among  whom  outward  decency  and  decorum 
prevail,  and  security  and  order  are   strictly  maintained,  not  by 

*  Where  the  press  is  merely  a  brusli,  and  the  types  are  blocks  of  wood, 
which  a  common  workman  carves  out  for  a  kw  pence,  it  must  of  necessity 
be  essentially  free  ;  the  best  proof  of  this  is,  that  books  for  which  there  is  a 
demand,  licentious  publications  for  instance,  are  extensively  circulated,  not- 
withstanding all  the  efforts  of  the  magistrate. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  151 

military  authority,  but  by  tlieir  own  good  sense  quietly  submit- 
ting to  the  rule  of  the  civil  magistrate.  On  the  other  hand  we 
see  this  same  people,  in  private,  abandoned  to  gross  sensuality,  to 
drunkenness  and  degrading  licentiousness  ;  in  public,  in  affairs  of 
trade  and  traffic,  in  the  business  and  diplomacy  of  the  state,  making 
their  individual  advantage  their  sole  practical  rule  of  right  and 
wrong. 

Such  being  the  character  of  this  singular  people,  our  principles 
would  give  to  them  a  less  strength  of  tlie  eifective   desire  of 
accumulation  than  the   generality  of  European  nations,  but  a 
greater  than  that  of  other  Asiatics.     This  desire  is  lessened  by  a 
propensity  to  sensual  gratifications  and  selfish  feelings,  and  by  a 
state  of  society  where  there  is  any  thing  to  endanger  the  security 
of  future  possession.     All  these  produce  a  tendency  to  seek  the 
enjoyments  of  to-day,  at  the  risk  of  leaving  the  wants  of  to-morrow 
unprovided  for.     As  compared  with  other  than  European  nations, 
however,  we   might  expect  them  to  possess  no  inconsiderable 
portion  of   the   virtues  of  prudence  and  of  self-control.      The 
general   diffusion   of  a  tincture   of  learning,   and   perception  of 
something  of  the  beauty  and  obligations  of  moral  rectitude,  the 
consequent  subjection  at  all  events  of  the  more  violent  passions, 
and  the  great  desire  to  provide  for  the  wants  of  their  families, 
which  the  strength   of  the   connexion  thus   subsisting  between 
parent  and  child  engenders,  raise  them,  in  these  respects,  much 
above  Asiatics  in  general.   We  should,  therefore,  a  priori,  suppose, 
that  the  instruments  formed  by  them  must  be  of  orders  of  quicker 
return,  and   embracing  a  less  compass  of  materials,  than  those 
constructed  by  European  nations ;  but  of  slower  return,  and  em- 
bracing a  greater  compass  of  materials,  than  those  to  which  the 
strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  carries  the  other  nations  of 
Asia.     All  who  have  written  concerning  this  great  empire  agree 
in  the   statement,  that  the  necessary  cost  of  subsistence  is  there 
small,  and  the  wages  of  labor  low.     To  these  two  circumstances, 
determinino-  their  state,  is  to  be  added  a  third.     The  inventive 
faculty  would  appear  to  have  been  once  very  active  among  them ; 
their  knowledge  of  the  arts  suited  to  their  country  is  very  ex- 
tended. 

Durability  is  one  of  the  chief  qualities,  marking  a  high  degree 
of  the  effective  strength  of  accumulation.  The  testimony  of 
travellers  ascribes  to  the  instruments  formed  by  the  Chinese,  a 


152  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

very  inferior  durability  to  similar  instruments,  constructed  by 
Europeans.  The  houses,  we  are  told,  unless  of  the  higher  ranks, 
are  in  general  of  unburnt  bricks,  of  clay,  or  of  hurdles  plastered 
with  earth ;  the  roofs,  of  reeds  fastened  to  laths.  We  can 
scarcely  conceive  more  unsubstantial,  or  temporary  fabrics.* 
Their  partitions  are  of  paper,  requiring  to  be  renewed  every  year. 

A  similar  observation  may  be  made,  concerning  their  implements 
of  husbandry,  and  other  utensils.  Tliey  are  almost  entirely  of 
wood,  the  metals  entering  but  very  sparingly  into  their  construc- 
tion ;  consequently  they  soon  wear  out,  and  require  frequent 
renewals.  A  greater  degree  of  strength  in  the  effective  desire 
of  accumulation,  would  cause  them  to  be  constructed  of  materials 
requiring  a  greater  present  expenditure,  but  being  far  more  durable. 
From  the  same  cause,  much  land,  that  in  other  countries  would 
be  cultivated,  lies  waste.  All  travellers  take  notice  of  laro-e 
tracts  of  land,  chiefly  swamps,  which  continue  in  a  state  of  nature. 
To  bring  a  swamp  into  tillage  is  generally  a  process,  to  complete 
which,  requires  several  years.  It  must  be  previously  drained, 
the  surface  long  exposed  to  the  sun,  and  many  operations  per- 
formed, before  it  can  be  made  capable  of  bearing  a  crop.  Though 
yielding,  probably  a  very  considerable  return  for  the  labor  bestowed 
on  it,  that  return  is  not  made  until  a  long  time  has  elapsed.  The 
cultivation  of  such  land  implies  a  greater  strength  of  the  effective 
desire  of  accumulation  than  exists  in  the  empire. f 

The  produce  of  the  harvest  is,  as  we  have  remarked,  always  an 
instrument  of  some  order  or  another,  it  is  a  provision  for  future 
want,  and  regulated  by  the  same  laws  as  those  to  which  other 
means  of  attaining  a  similar  end  conform.  It  is  there  chiefly  rice, 
of  which  there  are  two  harvests,  the  one  in  June,  the  other  in 
October.  The  period  then  of  eight  months,  between  October 
and  June,  is  that,  for  which  provision  is  made  each  year,  and  the 
different  estimate  they  make  of  to-day  and  this  day  eight  months, 
will  appear  in  the  self-denial  they  practise  now,  in  order  to  guard 
against  want  then.  The  amount  of  this  self-denial,  would  seem 
to  be  small.  The  father  Parennin,  indeed,  asserts,  that  it  is  their 
great  deficiency  in  forethought  and  frugality  in  this  respect,  which 
is  the  cause  of  the  scarcities  and  famines,  that  frequently  occur. 

*  La  Harp,  Vol.  8.  p.  289.     Lettres  edifiantes,  Vol.  X.  p.  107. 

t  Staunton,  Vol.  2,  p.  241.  Ellis,  p.  268  and  316  ;  the  best  proof  perhaps  is 
in  the  premiunns  offered  for  their  cultivation.  See  Lettres  edifiantes,  Vol.  xi. 
p.  525. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  153 

"I  believe,"  he  says,  "that,  notwithstanding  its  great  number  of 
inhabitants,  China  would  furnish  enough  of  grain  for  all,  but  that 
there  is  not  sufficient  economy  observed  in  its  consumption,  and 
that  they  employ  an  astonishing  quantity  of  it  in  the  manufacture 
of  the  wine  of  the  country,  and  of  raque."  As  confirmative  of 
his  observations  he  remarks,  the  number  of  fires  occasioned  by 
the  habit  of  drinking  to  excess  before  going  to  bed,  and  tlie 
prevalence,  among  the  lower  orders,  of  a  malady  called  ye-che, 
produced  by  the  same  vice.* 

A  document  given  in  the  Jesuit's  Letters,  a  translation  from  the 
Gazette  of  the  empire  in  1725,  probably  shows  nearly  what  order 
instruments  of  this  sort,  and  therefore  of  all  sorts,  really  belong 
to  ;  that  is,  the  difference  between  a  quantity  of  rice,  or  of  any 
thing  else,  in  possession  at  the  end  of  harvest,  and  a  quantity  to 
be  had  in  spring.  It  proceeds  on  the  supposition  that  three 
bushels  at  the  former  period  are  equivalent,  and,  in  ordinary 
years,  when  there  is  neither  famine  nor  scarcity,  will  produce 
four  at  the  latter.  By  purchasing  at  the  former  period,  and 
selling  at  the  latter,  the  WTiter  therefore  estimates,  that  thirty 
bushels  will,  at  the  end  of  five  years,  produce  more  than  one 
hundred.  The  estimate  is  perhaps  a  little  high,  but  from  the 
nature  of  it,  of  the  individual  from  whom  it  comes,  and  those  to 
whom  it  is  addressed,  it  is  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  it  is 
much  too  high.  Taken  in  conjunction  with  a  description  of  a 
scheme  for  raising  funds,  of  which  an  account  is  subjoined,!  it 
indicates  that  instruments  in  China  are  about  the  order  D. 

The  deficiency  of  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  ac- 
cumulation, is  balanced  by  the  smallness  of  the  necessary  cost  of 
subsistence,  and  wages  of  labor,  and  by  the  great  progress  which 
has  been  made  in  the  knowledge  of  the  arts  suited  to  the  nature 
of  the  country,  and  the  wants  of  its  inhabitants.  Where  the 
returns  are  quick,  where  the  instruments  formed  require  but  little 
time  to  bring  the  events  for  which  they  are  formed   to  an  issue, 

*Lettre3  Edifiantes,  Tom.  XII.  p.  199.  The  father  Parennin  seems  to  have 
been  one  of  the  most  intelligent  of  the  Jesuits,  and  had  the  very  best  oppor- 
tunities for  observation,  having  spent  a  long  life  among  the  Chinese  of  all 
classes.  His  testimony  is  much  more  to  be  depended  on,  concerning  such  a 
fact,  than  that  of  passing  travellers,  whose  cursory  observations  extend  only 
to  what  may  be  seen  on  the  exterior  of  the  habitations. 

t  Note  F. 

20 


154  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

even  the  defective  principle  of  accumulation  of  the  Chinese  is 
able  to  grasp  a  very  large  compass  of  materials. 

The  warmth  of  the  climate,  the  natural  fertility  of  the  country, 
the  knowledge  which  the  inhabitants   have  acquired   of  the  arts 
of  agriculture,  and  the  discovery  and  gradual  adaptation  to  every 
soil  of  a  variety  of  the  most  useful  vegetable  productions   enable 
them  very  speedily  to  draw  from  almost  any  part  of  the  surface, 
what  is  there  esteemed  an   equivalent  to   much  more  than  the 
labor  bestowed  in  tilling  and  cropping  it.     They  have  commonly 
double,  sometimes,  treble  harvests.     These,  when   they  consist 
of  a  grain  so  productive  as  rice,  the  usual  crop,  can  scarce  fail  to 
yield  to  their  skill,  from  almost  any  portion  of  soil  that  can  be  at 
once  brought  into    culture,  very    ample   returns.     Accordingly 
there  is  no  spot  that  labor  can  immediately  bring  under  cultiva- 
tion, that  is  not  made  to  yield  to  it.     Hills,  even  mountains,  are 
ascended  and  formed  into  terraces ;  and  water,  in  that  country 
the  great  productive  agent,  is  led  to  every  part  by  drains,  or  car- 
ried up  to  it  by  the  ingenious  and  simple   hydraulic   machines, 
which  have  been  in  use  from  time  immemorial   among  this  sin- 
gular people.     They  effect  this  the  more  easily  from  the  soil, 
even  in  these  situations,  being  very  deep  and  covered  with  much 
vegetable  mould.     But  what  yet  more  than  this  marks  the  rea- 
diness with  which  labor  is  found  to  form  the  most  difficult  mate- 
rials into  instruments,  where  these  instruments  soon  bring  to  an 
issue   the   events  for   which   they  are    formed,  is    the   frequent 
occurrence  on  many  of  their  lakes  and  waters  of  structures  resem- 
bling the  floating  gardens  of  the   Peruvians,  rafts  covered  with 
vegetable  soil  and  cultivated.     Labor  in  this  way  draws  from  the 
materials  on  which  it  acts  very  speedy  returns.     Nothing  can 
exceed  the  luxuriance  of  vegetation,  when  the  quickening  powers 
of  a  genial  sun  are   ministered  to  by  a  rich  soil,  and  abundant 
moisture.     It  is  otherwise,  as  we  have  seen,  in  cases  where  the 
return,  though  copious,  is  distant.     European  travellers  are  sur- 
prised at  meeting  these  little  floating  farms,  by  the  side  of  swamps 
which  only  require  draining  to  render  them   tillable.     It  seems 
to  them  strange  that  labor  should  not  rather  be  bestow^ed  on  the 
solid  earth,  where  its  fruits  might  endure,  than  on  structures  that 
must  decay  and  perish   in  a  few  years.     The  people   they  are 
among  think  not  so  much  of  future  years  as  of  the  present  time. 
The  effective  desire  of  accumulation  is  of  very  different  strength 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  155 

in  the  one,  from  what  it  is  in  the  other.  The  views  of  the  Eu- 
ropean extend  to  a  distant  futurity,  and  he  is  surprised  at  the 
Chinese,  condemned,  through  improvidence  and  want  of  sufficient 
prospective  care,  to  incessant  toil,  and,  as  he  thinks,  insufferable 
wretchedness.  The  views  of  the  Chinese  are  confined  to  nar- 
rower bounds,  he  is  content,  as  we  say,  to  live  from  day  to  day, 
and  has  learnt  to  conceive  even  a  life  of  toil  a  blessing.  The 
power  which  the  singular  skill  and  dexterity  of  this  people,  not- 
withstanding their  deficiency  in  the  strength  of  that  principle 
that  forms  the  subject  of  this  chapter,  gives  them,  to  work  up 
into  instruments  supplying  a  larger  circle  of  wants,  many  mate- 
rials that  would  otherwise  lie  dormant,  is  seen  in  various  instances 
besides  those  referred  to.  It  may  be  sufficient  to  mention 
the  manufacture  of  silk,  and  the  cultivation  and  manufacture  of 
tea.  They  are  both  instances  of  the  power  of  the  inventive 
facultv  to  form  instruments,  soon  bringing  to  an  issue  events,  that 
repay,  according  to  the  rate  at  which  labor  is  there  repaid,  con- 
siderably more  than  the  cost  of  their  formation. 

However  we  explain  it,  it  will  I  think  be  admitted  as  a  fact,  that 
Europeans  in  general  far  exceed  Asiatics  both  in  vigor  of  intellect, 
and  in  strength  of  moral  feeling.  The  average  duration  of  human 
life  is  also  with  them  more  extended,  and  property  more  secure. 
These  circumstances  give  much  superior  power  to  the  accumula- 
tive principle  in  the  one  continent,  to  what  it  has  in  the  other, 
and  occasion  the  instruments  constructed  in  each  to  be  of  very 
different  orders,  and  to  form  a  strong  contrast  when  compared 
together.  The  attention  of  an  European,  when  he  visits  Asia,  is 
arrested  by  the  slightness  and  want  of  strength,  solidity,  finish, 
and  consequently  durability,  of  every  instrument  he  sees.  Were 
an  Asiatic  city  deserted,  the  place  where  it  stands  would,  in  half 
a  century  be  scarcely  discernible.  The  instruments  constructed 
being  of  the  more  quickly  returning  orders,  all  materials  which 
require  much  labor,  and  bring  in  only  distant  returns,  are  neg- 
lected. Mud  takes  the  place  of  stone,  wood  of  iron.  In  Europe, 
on  the  other  hand,  in  proportion  as  the  minds  of  the  people  are 
reflective  and  intelligent,  and  their  habits  moral,  we  find  that  the 
interests  of  futurity  operate  on  them  so  largely  as  to  occasion  a 
great  capacity  to  be  given  to  materials,  on  which,  in  Asia,  a  very 
small  capacity  would  be  bestowed,  or  which  would  there  be 
altogether  neglected.     The  most  stubborn  morasses  are  drained, 


156  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

and  converted  into  arable  lands  ;  roads,  canals,  bridges,  fences, 
dwelling-houses,  furniture,  tools,  utensils,  in  short  all  instruments 
whatever  indicate  that  the  formers  of  them  have  regard  to  a  dis- 
tant futurity,  and  are  willing  to  give  up  for  its  interests  a  large 
portion  of  the  means  of  present  enjoyment. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  in  Europe  invention  has  in 
general  made  much  greater  progress  than  in  Asia.  Perhaps  in 
their  knowledge  of  agriculture  and  horticulture  the  Chinese  equal 
most  European  nations,  but  in  other  arts  they  are  far  inferior, 
and,  with  the  exception  of  them,  no  Asiatics,  in  the  knowledge 
of  these  or  of  other  arts,  can  compete  with  Europeans.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  wages  of  labor  in  Europe,  are  far  higher  than  in 
Asia.  This  circumstance,  countervailing  the  other,  would  pro- 
bably, in  many  cases,  bring  the  durability  and  efficiency  of  the 
instruments  constructed  in  both  continents  nearly  to  an  equality, 
were  it  not  for  the  existing  difference  in  the  strength  of  the 
accumulative  principle. 

The  examples  we  have  hitherto  considered  have  been  of 
societies,  where  the  principle  of  accumulation  has  been  either 
advancing,  or,  at  least,  not  sensibly  retrograding.  It  may  be 
well  to  turn  our  attention  to  the  effects  produced  by  a  sensible 
decrease  in  its  strength.  The  history  of  the  declining  ages  of 
the  Roman  empire  furnishes  us  with  such  an  one. 

Rome  may  be  said  to  have  carried  with  her,  from  her  earliest 
germs,  the  elements  of  decay.  Her  power  was  entirely  that  of 
force,  a  principle  suppressing  and  subduing  every  thing,  generating 
nothing ;  like  flame  spreading  far  and  wide,  investing  whatever  it 
catches  with  momentary  splendor,  but,  like  it,  destroying  that 
which  feeds  it,  and  going  out  at  length  leaving  desolation  behind 
it.  The  proper  trade  of  the  Romans  was  war.  But  when  in 
agricultural  countries  war  becomes  the  occupation  of  a  commu- 
nity, and  conquest  the  means  by  which  it  seeks  to  acquire  wealth 
and  greatness,  evils  arise  which  time,  instead  of  mitigating,  in- 
creases. When  hunters  go  to  war  with  hunters,  or  herdsmen 
with  herdsmen,  the  object  in  View,  besides  overcoming  their 
enemies,  is  to  obtain  possession  of  a  portion  of  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  and  the  animals  wild,  or  tame,  nourished  by  it.  Over  such 
communities  therefore,  though  war,  passing  like  a  destroying 
tempest,  leaves  ruin  behind,  yet  time  obliterates  all  traces  of  the 
devastation  produced  by  it,  and  the  same  territory  sees  a  new 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  I57 

generation  arise  from  the   victors  or  vanquished,  as  free,  happy, 
and  prosperous,  as  their  forefathers.     But  in   states  of  society 
where  the  riches  of  the  earth  are  not  brought  out  by  the  wild  or 
tame  animals  which  its  surface  nourishes,  but  by  the  husbandman 
who  tills  it,  there  conquest  can  never  be  a  permanent  gain,  unless 
through  some  permanent  right  acquired  by  it  over  the  inhabitants 
of  the  territory  subdued.     Hence  the  fact  of  war  being  success- 
fully pursued  as  a  gainful  trade  by  any  community,  seems  to 
imply,  that  the  conquered  submit  to  slavery,   either  personal  or 
political,  probably  partly  to  both.    Gain  was  always  the  ultimate 
object  aimed  at  by  the  Romans.   It  was  not  to  chastise  an  insult, 
or  to  protect  their  citizens  in  the  undisturbed   prosecution  of  in- 
dustry, that  they  fought  or  conquered.    These  might  occasionally 
serve   for  pretexts,   and  were  sometimes  perhaps   the   exciting 
causes  of  war,  but  for  the  real  fruits  of  victory  they  always  looked 
to  the  spoliation  of  the  vanquished,  and  tribute,  in  one  shape  or 
other,  imposed  on  them.     Every  people  with  whom  they  came 
in  contact  was  regarded  by  them  first  as  an  enemy  to  be  subdued, 
afterwards  as  a  province  from  which  they  were   to  be  enriched. 
They  were  in  truth   a  band  of  well   disciplined  robbers,  whose 
virtue,  law,  religion,  centered  in  their  swords  ;  courageous  indeed, 
and  keeping  to  their  positive  engagements  with  a  fidelity  common 
to  brave  men,  and  which,  as  it  is  for  their  interest,  even  scattered 
banditti  observe,  but  whose   course  of  rapine  was  still  onward, 
relentless,  merciless,   unchecked  by  thoughts  of  the  corporeal 
pains,  or  mental  debasement  it  produced. 

Such  an  empire  could  only  have  been  formed  by  overpowering 
the  finer  and  more  generous  and  elevating  feelings,  and  could 
not  be  maintained  without  having  the  effect  of  giving  the  pre- 
ponderance to  the  debasing,  selfish,  and  therefore  destructive 
principles  of  our  nature.  It  left  but  one  great  virtue,  that  of 
patriotism,  with  the  Romans  a  sort  of  enlarged  esprit  de  corps, 
and  one  great  moral  quality,  that  of  courage,  or  the  meeting 
danger  undauntedly  when  the  interest  of  the  individual  or  the 
state  required  it, —  a  principle  of  action,  it  may  be  remarked, 
differing  considerably  from  the  more  generous  and  self-devoting 
gallantry  of  the  modern.  These  were  strong  in  Italy  while  Italy 
was  the  governing  power  ;  but  even  they  gradually  disappeared 
as  the  provinces  were  amalgamated  with  it,  and  Italians  ceased 
to  be  the  conquering  soldiery. 

It  were  needless  to  enlarge  on  a  subject  so  well  known  as  that 


158  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

of  the  general  corruption  of  Roman  manners,  from  the  time  of 
the   first   Caesar.     Venahty  and  hcentiousness  may  be   said  to 
have  been  universal.     I  shall  confine  myself  to  one   particular, 
as  marking  sufficiently   the    declension    of  those   principles    on 
which  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  mainly 
tlepends.     I  allude    to    the   decay  of  the  family   affections,   of 
which  evidence  every  where  meets  us.     The  men  did  not  wish 
to  be  fatliers,  scarcely  did  the  women  wish  to  be  mothers.     The 
joys  of  the  relation  were   to   them  too  small,  to  be  a  compensa- 
tion for  the  sacrifices   it  demanded.     The  bringing  up  children 
cost  the  one  parent  too  much  money,  and  took  from  the  other 
too  much  pleasure.     If  families  were  raised  up,  it  was  not  from 
the  natural  influence  of  the  parental  affections,  but  in   obedience 
to  the  laws,  that  the  man   might  have   the   approbation    of  the 
magistrate,  and   that  there  might  be  citizens  to  the  state.     They 
lived,  not  in  others,  or  for  others,  but  for  themselves,  and  sought 
their  good  in  enjoyments  altogether  selfish.     It  was  their  aim  to 
expend  on  their  own  personal  pleasures  whatever  they  possibly 
could.     It  would  seem  as  if  the  majority,  could  they  have  fore- 
known the  exact  limits  of  their  lives,    would  have  made  their 
fortunes  and  them  terminate  together.     As  they  could  not  do 
so,  the  lives  of  many  ended  before  their  fortunes,  as  the  fortunes 
of  others  held  out  beyond  their  lives.     To  reap,  however,  them- 
selves, while  alive,  all   possible   benefit    from  wliat   they   might 
chance  to  leave  others  to  enjoy  after  their  death,  they  encour- 
aged some  of  the  members  of  a  despicable  class  who  seem  to 
have  constituted  no  inconsiderable  part  of  Roman  society.     Par- 
asites ready  to  minister  to  every  pleasure,  and  to   perform  every 
possible  service,  waited  on  the  man  of  wealth,  in   the  hope  and 
expectation  of  enjoying  a  portion   of  it   after  his   death.     They 
were  more  desirable  than  children,  both  because  they  were  able 
to  give  something  more   than  mere   unsubstantial   affection  and 
esteem,  and  because   they  were"  willing  to  give  it,  while  a  son 
or  daughter  might  imagine  they  had  claims  to  receive  what  they 
could  not  be  said  to  have  labored  for.     The  poets  and  satirists 
of  the  Augustine  age,  and  of  subsequent  times,  give  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  state,  evil  in  itself,  and  the  fore- 
runner of  many  evils.*     It  gave  occasion  to  the  law  compelling 

*  Horace  V.  Satire  H  Book.     It  is  worth  while  observing,  that,  according 
to  this  satire,  to  cheat  these  parasites  into  the  service,  by  holding  out  a 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  I59 

parents  to  leave  their  children  a  certain  part,  a  fourth,  of  their 
property.  Its  prevalence  may  be  judged  of  by  the  wording  of 
the  enactments  increasing  the  children's  share.  It  is  stated,  as 
a  fact  well  known,  that  parents  generally  either  disinherit,  or  omit 
their  children  in  their  wills,  leaving  the  bulk  of  their  property  to 
distant  relations,  to  strangers,  or  to  slaves,  to  whom  thev  give 
freedom  ;  and  that  thus,  if  their  family  is  numerous,  they,  who 
during  the  lifetime  of  their  father  enjoyed  affluence,  find  that  his 
death  leaves  them  in  poverty.* 

Nothing,  surely,  can  more  clearly  show  the  extreme  and  per- 
vading selfishness  of  the  time,  than  its  becoming  necessary  for 
the  magistrate  to  compel  the  citizens  to  marry,  and  also  to  compel 
them  to  leave  portions  to  their  children.  The  existence  of  such 
a  state  of  things  implied  a  degree  of  isolation  of  feeling  and  ac- 
tion, so  great,  as  necessarily  to  produce  general  weakness  and 
decay.  The  general  selfishness  of  the  principles  guiding  the 
conduct  of  individuals,  may  be  gathered  from  a  prevailing  pro- 
verb "  when  I  die  let  the  world  burn."f     When  such  were  the 

reward  they  were  never  to  get,  was  reckoned  a  thing  to  be  laughed  at. — 
Probably  the  practice  existed  from  a  very  early  age,  though  I  cannot  give 
authority  for  it.  Parasites  are  in  Plautus'  Plays,  but  these  are  in  a  great 
measure  translations.  The  following  quotation  from  that  author,  however, 
expresses  a  feeling,  which  I  should  suppose  prevailed  in  Roman  society  at  the 
time  : 

"  Quando  habeo  multos  cognatos,  quid  opus  mihi  sit  liberis. 
Nunc  bene  vivo  et  fortunate,  atque  animo  ut  lubet, 
Mea  bona  raea  morte  cognatis  dicam  interpartiant, 
Illi  apud  me  edunt,  me  curant,  visunt  quid  agam,  ecquid  velim, 
Qui  mihi  mittunt  muuera,  ad  prandium,  ad  caenam  vocant." 

^  Quia  plerumque  parentes  sine  causa  liberos  suas  exhereduntvel  omittunt. 
Inst.  Lib.  II.  Tit.  18.  Capiunt  quidem  cognati  omnia,  et  extranei,  vel  cum 
libertate  servi;  filii  vero  licet  multi  consistant;  etiamsi  nihil  offenderint 
parentes,  confunduntur,  &c.     Novel.  XVIII.  Pref. 

f  Eitov  duvoviog  yula  iM/drjibi  TtvgL  Suet.  A  similar  proverb  "  a  pres 
nous  le  deluge,"  is  said  to  have  been  often  in  the  mouth  of  Madame  Pompa- 
dour, one  of  the  purest  self- worshippers  ever  existing.  It  is  perhaps  worthy 
of  remark,  as  showing  the  propensity  of  selfishness  to  grasp  the  present,  that 
both  the  Romans  and  the  lady  were  very  prodigals  even  in  what  was  entirely 
their  own.  The  former  it  is  well  known  rapidly  exhausted  their  constitu- 
tions by  every  sort  of  debauchery  and  excess,  the  latter  was  as  little  econom- 
ical of  her  personal  charms.  At  twenty  her  lips  are  said  to  have  been  livid 
from  the  too  constant  application  of  her  teeth  to  make  them  pout,  at  thirty 
she  was  haggard. 


IQQ  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

maxims  ruling  society,  there  could  not  fail  to  be  a  heedless  sa- 
crifice of  the  interests  of  futurity,  an  exhaustion  of  the  means  or 
instruments  which  the  forethought  of  previous  generations  had 
employed  industry  to  accumulate,  without  any  correspondent 
reformation  of  them.  Sallust,  in  a  fragment  quoted  by  Mon- 
tesquieu, well  describes  the  men  of  his  day  as  a  race  who  could 
neither  themselves  hold  property,  nor  allow  others  to  retain  it.* 
Only  such  instruments  could  consequently  be  formed  as  were  of 
very  quickly  returning  orders,  and,  as  the  vigor  of  the  accumu- 
lative principle  decayed,  the  members  of  each  succeeding  gen- 
eration saw  a  mass  of  materials  fall  from  their  grasp,  which  had 
afforded  a  plentiful  supply  to  the  wants  of  their  morfe  provident 
forefathers. 

The  means  of  supporting  human  life  diminished,  and  the  num- 
bers of  mankind  diminished  with  them.  When  vice  itself  did 
not  sufficiently  check  the  growth  of  the  elements  of  life,  it 
brought  want  and  famine  to  its  assistance.  The  history  of  the 
Roman  world  under  the  Caesars,  is  a  melancholy  detail  of  the 
gradually  decaying  funds  of  the  Empire,  and  the  gradually  de- 
creasing numbers  of  its  inhabitants.  Italy,  according  to  Pliny, 
and  other  writers,  was  in  the  old  times  crowded  with  people, 
thickly  set  with  cities,  and  rich  in  all  things  ministering  to  the 
needs  of  its  inhabitants.  In  his  day,  its  diminished  population 
depended  for  their  sustenance  on  the  productions  of  other  ter- 
ritories. The  change  certainly  was  not  owing  to  any  alteration 
in  the  materials.  "  Non  fatigata  aut  efFoeta  humus,"  says  Colu- 
mella. The  earth  would  have  yielded  the  same  returns,  had 
they  who  possessed  it  been  willing  to  expend  what  was  necessary 
to  give  it  the  capacity  of  yielding  them.  As  the  materials  were 
only  wrought  up  to  very  quickly  returning  orders,  they  had  ne- 
cessarily a  much  smaller  capacity,  and  the  annual  returns  made 
by  them  were  of  consequence  much  less.  Pasture  took  place 
of  tillage  ;  corn  was  brought  from  the  provinces  ;  and  when  the 
supply  failed  famine  ensued.  Even  the  construction  of  ships 
for  the  transport  of  this,  and  other  merchandise,  would  seem  to 
have  been  an  effort  to  which  the  accumulative  principle  was 
scarcely  equal.     It  was  found  necessary  to  encourage  it  by  re- 

*  "  Merito  dicatur  genitos  esse,  qui  nee  ipsi  habere  possent  res  famil- 
iares,  nee  alios  pati." 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  161 

warding  those  who  prosecuted  that  branch  of  industry.*  Some- 
times land  formerly  cultivated  was  allowed  to  lie  entirely  waste, 
and  passed  altogether  out  of  the  class  of  instruments.  The  forest 
and  wilderness  gained  on  the  Romans,  as  they  would  now,  for 
similar  reasons,  on  an  Indian  population,  were  some  of  these 
tribes  put  in  possession  of  the  domains,  anciently  the  property  of 
their  race,  at  present  yielding  abundantly  to  the  provident  indus- 
try of  the  whites.  Had  there  been  no  irruption  of  the  barba- 
rians the  Empire  must  have  perished,  more  slowly  perhaps,  but 
as  certainly,  from  the  operation  alone  of  these  internal  causes  of 
decay.  They  were  occasioning  a  progressive  diminution  of  the 
capacity  which  materials  formerly  possessed.  Thus,  it  is  to  the 
Romans  themselves  as  much  as  to  the  barbarians,  that  the  de- 
struction of  the  public  edifices  is  to  be  ascribed.  The  stones 
were  applied  to  private  purposes.  With  the  capacity  for  yield- 
ing a  return,  there  necessarily  perished  the  return  yielded,  and 
the  power,  consequently,  of  maintaining  the  same  number  of 
men,  and  contributing  an  equal  amount  to  the  wants  of  the  state. 
Hence  the  population  of  the  Empire,  and  the  imperial  revenue 
diminished  from  aoe  to  age. 

The  diminution  would  have  been  much  more  rapid  but  for 
some  counteracting  causes.  Rome,  while  she  conquered  and 
enslaved,  gave  peace,  and  peace  enabled  the  arts  to  pass  from 
country  to  country,  and  often,  under  her  protection,  carried  them 
to  regions  before  barbarous.  Again,  she  herself,  as  she  gradually 
proceeded  to  enslave  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  encircle  it  in 
her  empire,  received  into  her  bosom  those  who  had  been  free, 
or  were  the  immediate  descendants  of  freemen,  and  retained 
somethino;  of  their  virtues.  The  ungovernable  licentiousness, 
extravagance,  and  proneness  to  evil  of  the  Italians,  were  tempered 
by  the  greater  decency  and  frugality  of  the  neio  men  of  many 
of  the  distant  provinces,  who  flocked  in  to  recruit  the  diminishing 
numbers  of  her  citizens.f 

These  two  circumstances,  however,  only  retarded,  they  could 

*  Nam  et  negotiatoribus  certa  lucra  proposuit,  sascepto  in  se  damno  si  cui 
quid  per  tempestates  accidisset;  et  naves  mercaturfe  causa  fabricantibus 
magna  conimoda  constituit,  pro  conditione  cuj usque.;  civibus  vacationem 
legis  PappesB  :  Latinis  jus  quiritum  :  foeminis  jus  quatuor  liberorum  ;  quae 
constituta  liodie  servantur.  Suet,  in  vita  Claudii,  XIX. 

t  Tacit.  Ann.  C.  55.  L.  III. 

21 


[Q2  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

not  resist,  the  advancing  degeneracy,  poverty,  and  weakness,  that 
were  gradually  sapping  the  foundations  of  the  Empire,  and  ex- 
posing it  to  be  overturned  by  external  violence,  or  to  fall  to  ruin 
by  its  own  weight.  While  some  of  her  provinces  gave  strength 
to  Rome,  she  corrupted  them ;  if  she  gave  them  her  arts,  she 
gave  them  also  her  manners.  Like  liquor,  already  begun  to  turn, 
mixed  with  what  is  yet  fresh,  the  defects  of  the  compound  were 
not  at  first  perceptible ;  by  and  by,  the  adulteration  diffused 
through  it  wroudit  on  the  whole,  and  rendered  it  all  alike  worth- 
less. 

The  propagation  of  Christianity  over  the  Empire  is  to  be 
reckoned  as  another  of  the  causes  retarding  its  decay.  It  is  to 
be  observed,  how^ever,  that  this  took  place  too  late  for  reaping 
the  advantages,  which  the  morality  of  the  Gospel  might  have 
otherwise  conferred ;  and  that  the  corruptions  of  the  times  were 
so  great  as  to  lead  its  teachers  rather  to  preach  the  duty  of  with- 
drawing from  the  world,  than  to  inspire  them  with  the  hopes  of 
remoulding  the  world  to  an  accordance  with  a  system  of  perfect 
purity  of  morals  and  benevolence  of  purpose.  The  effects  of 
this  cause  were  therefore  comparatively  small. 

The  reader  will  perceive  that  the  subject  we  are  upon  might 
be  stretched  to  an  indefinite  length.  Circumstances  have  given 
to  every  community  a  peculiar  character ;  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual powers  of  every  people  have  received  different  degrees 
of  developement,  and  the  continuance  of  life  is  more  or  less 
probable,  and  the  possession  of  property  more  or  less  assured,  in 
one  country  than  in  another.  All  these  particulars  vary  the 
relations  between  the  present  and  the  future,  in  the  estimation  of 
the  members  of  different  societies,  and  would  therefore  determine 
each  community  to  stop  short  at  some  particular  point  in  our 
series,  towards  which,  the  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle 
may  be  said  to  cause  the  instruments  it  forms  continually  to  gravi- 
tate. Unhke  the  operation  of  gravity  however,  the  force  with 
which  they  tend  to  this  point  diminishes,  as  their  distance  from 
it  decreases,  and  the  farther  they  are  removed  from  it,  the  greater 
the  rapidity  of  their  progress  towards  it. 

The  subject  would  not  therefore  be  fairly  exhausted,  until  all 
the  circumstances  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  state,  and  other 
particulars  of  the  condition  of  every  people,  had  been  examined, 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  153 

and  compared  with  the  extent  to  which  the  formation  of  instru- 
ments among  them  is  advanced.  Enough  however,  has  perhaps 
been  done  to  show,  that  this  principle  is  of  very  extensive  opera- 
tion, and  that  in  our  subsequent  inquiries  we  are  warranted  in 
assuming  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation,  to 
be  a  circumstance  of  primary  importance  in  the  determination  of 
the  extent  to  which  the  formation  of  instruments  will  be  carried 
in  any  society.  We  should  now  proceed  to  examine  the  more 
important  effects  resulting  from  variations  in  the  strength  of  this 
principle  in  different  members  of  the  same  community.  It  is 
however  necessary  first  to  consider  some  phenomena  produced  by 
the  progress  of  it,  and  of  the  inventive  faculty,  and  certain  classi- 
fications of  instruments  and  names  applied  to  them,  which  have 
thence  arisen.     This  will  form  the  subject  of  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


OF  THE    DIVISION  OF  EMPLOYMENTS   AND   OTHER    PHENOMENA    PRODUCED 
BY  EFFORTS  TO  ACCELERATE  THE  EXHAUSTION  OF  INSTRUMENTS. 

Every  individual  endeavors  to  exhaust,  as  speedily  as  he  can, 
the  capacity  of  the  instruments  which  he  possesses.  By  rapidly 
exhausting  the  capacity  of  apy  instrument,  the  returns  yielded 
by  it  are  not  lessened,  but  quickened.  The  powers  it  possesses 
to  bestow  enjoyment,  or  to  aid  in  the  formation  of  other  instru- 
ments, are  not  diminished  in  quantity,  but  sooner  brought  into 
action,  and  it  passes  to  an  order  of  quicker  return.  When  there- 
fore the  efforts  of  individuals,  so  divided,  are  successful,  by  placing 
the  instruments  operated  on  in  more  quickly  returning  orders, 
they  stimulate  the  accumulative  principle  to  give  greater  capacity 
to  instruments  of  the  sort,  and  proportionally  increase  the  capacity 
of  the  whole  stock  of  instruments  owned  by  the  society.  It  is 
to  certain  phenomena,  in  the  production  of  which  these  two  cir- 
cumstances are  the  main  agents,  that  we  have  in  this  chapter  to 
direct  our  attention. 

As  the  knowledge  which  mankind  possess  of  the  course  of 
nature  advances,  and  they  discover  a  greater  number  of  means  to 
provide  for  their  future  wants,  the  instruments  they  employ  for 
this  purpose  become  very  various.  The  exercise  of  the  arts  of 
the  weaver,  the  blacksmith,  the  carpenter,  the  farmer,  implies 
the  existence  of  a  great  variety  of  tools  with  which  they  may  be 
carried  on.  But,  as  a  man  can  only  do  one  thing  at  once,  if  any 
man  had  all  the  tools  which  these  several  occupations  require,  at 
least  three  fourths  of  them  would  constantly  lie  idle  and  useless. 
It  were  clearly  then  better,  were  any  society  to  exist  where  each 
man  had  all  these  tools,  and  alternately  carried  on  each  of  these 
occupations,  that  the  members  of  it  should  if  possible  divide  them 
amongst  them,  each  restricting  himself  to  some  particular  em- 
ployment.    There  would   then  be  no  superfluous  implements, 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  165 

each  set  of  tools  would  form  an  instrument  much  more  speedily 
exhausted,  and  therefore  of  an  order  of  quicker  return  than  be- 
fore. In  cases  where  this  could  be  done,  common  sense  would 
point  out  the  advantage  of  it.  When,  for  instance,  a  man's  loom 
came  to  be  worn  out,  he  would  go  to  his  neighbor  and  say,  "  I 
shall  not  make  another  loom  if  you  will  undertake  to  do  what 
weaving  I  may  require  ;  in  return  I  will  give  you  some  of  the 
produce  of  my  farm,  or  will  do  some  blacksmith  work  for  you." 
The  offer  would  be  accepted,  and  similar  motives  operating 
throughout  the  society,  each  individual  in  it  would  confine  his 
industry,  as  far  as  possible,  to  the  employment  of  some  particular 
set  of  tools  or  instruments.  It  is  not  perhaps  likely,  that  this 
was  the  manner  in  which  that  division  of  occupations  with  which 
we  are  now  familiar  was  originally  produced,  but  it  must  evidently 
have  been  produced  in  this  way,  had  it  not  been  otherwise 
brought  to  pass,  as  we  see,  in  fact,  that  even  now  it  is  thus 
brought  to  pass  in  the  progress  of  settlements  in  North  America. 
In  such  situations,  every  man  is  at  first  probably  obliged  to  be 
his  own  carpenter,  glazier,  tanner,  cobbler,  and  perhaps  to  a 
certain  extent  his  own  blacksmith.  As  the  settlement  fills  up, 
and  the  population  becomes  sufficiently  dense,  he  gives  up  this 
multifarious  industry,  and  takes  to  some  particular  branch.  The 
advantages  of  the  change  to  the  whole  community,  and  therefore 
to  every  individual  in  it,  are  great.  In  the  first  place,  the  various 
implements  being  in  constant  employment  yield  a  better  return 
for  what  has  been  laid  out  in  procuring  them  ;  being  sooner  ex- 
hausted they  pass  to  a  more  quickly  returning  order.  In  con- 
sequence, their  owners  can  afford  to  have  them  of  better  quality 
and  more  complete  construction ;  the  effective  desire  of  accumu- 
lation carries  them  on  to  a  class  correspondent  to  its  own  strength. 
The  result  of  both  events  is,  that  a  larger  provision  is  made  for 
the  future  wants  of  the  whole  society. 

Such  a  revolution  can  only  have  place,  where  the  individuals 
exercising  the  different  employments,  have  a  ready  communication 
with  each  other.  In  situations  where  they  cannot  easily  com- 
municate, either  from  distance,  or  difficulty  of  transit,  such  ex- 
changes cannot  take  place.  If  a  man  had  to  go  twenty  miles  for 
every  little  piece  of  carpenter  work  that  he  wished  executed,  it  were 
better  for  him  to  keep  a  few  carpenter  tools  of  his  own.  Neither 
is  it  likely  to  take  place  extensively  unless  where  the  accumu- 


166  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

lative  principle  has  considerable  strength,  and  where,  consequently, 
a  large  amount  of  labor  is  wrought  up  in  the  several  implements  in 
use.  Where,  as  in  Hindostan,  the  loom  is  merely  a  few  sticks, 
it  would  save  one  individual  very  little  to  employ  another  to 
weave  for  him.  It  is  accordingly,  in  countries  where  the  pop- 
ulation is  most  dense,  the  facility  of  communication  greatest,  and 
instruments  wrought  up  to  the  more  slowly  returning  orders,  that 
employments  are  most  divided. 

As  a  division  of  employments  implies  the  existence  of  ex- 
change or  barter,  so,  as  it  extends,  these  exchanges  become  ne- 
cessarily more  frequent.  Every  man,  to  procure  the  supply  of 
his  various  wants,  has  to  employ  the  services  of  more  individuals 
than  he  had  before.  The  farmer,  who  used  to  manufacture  his 
own  cloth  from  his  own  fleeces,  transfers  these  to  some  one  else, 
and  perhaps,  after  they  have  passed  through  the  hands  of  the 
carder,  the  spinner,  the  weaver,  the  fuller,  he.  part  of  them'  re- 
turns to  him  again  in  the  shape  of  cloth  for  some  garment  that 
he  is  in  need  of.  In  an  advanced  state  of  society,  very  few 
wants  are  supplied  but  by  articles  or  instruments  which  have 
passed  through  many  hands.  We  can  scarce  then  fitly  pursue 
our  subject,  without  some  examination  of  the  manner  in  which 
these  exchanges  take  place,  and  of  the  rules  by  which  they  are 
regulated. 

As  all  instruments  exist  solely  to  supply  wants,  so  any  man 
will  consent  to  receive  an  instrument  in  exchange,  or  expect  to 
give  it  in  exchange,  only  as  it  is  a  means  of  supplying  wants. 
It  is  the  business  of  every  man  to  adopt  the  readiest  and  easiest 
means  he  can  devise  to  supply  all  coming  needs,  and  it  is  solely 
because  the  medium  of  barter  presents  the  readiest  means  of 
effecting  this  end,  that  he  adopts  it. 

But  labor  is  the  fund  which  all  men  have,  out  of  which  to 
supply  their  wants.  Some  have  other  funds  besides,  but  every 
man  has  this,  and  strip  a  man  of  every  thing  adventitious,  this 
alone  remains  to  him.  It  is  this,  then,  which  a  person  may  most 
fitly  be  said  to  expend,  in  provision  for  any  future  want.  When 
one  man  exchanges  this  for  that,  he  may  be  said  to  give  the 
labor  which  he  has  expended  on  this,  for  the  labor  which  has 
been  expended  on  that,  and  labor  for  labor  would  seem  to  be  the 
most  simple  of  exchanges.  It  never,  as  we  shall  see,  exactly 
takes  place,  but  sometimes  it  is  nearly  approximated  to,  and, 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  I57 

that  we  may  set  out  from  the  most  simple  elements,  we  may 
suppose  that  it  is  actually  arrived  at. 

Any  man  will  be  inclined  to  exchange  one  instrument  for 
another,  if,  by  so  doing,  he  can  save  himself  any  part  of  the  labor 
which  he  must  otherwise  expend  in  producing  that  other.     A 
lives  in  some  place  where  willows  are  to  be  had  for  cutting  them  ; 
he  employs  himself  in  making  willow  baskets,  one  of  which  he 
finishes  in  two  days ;  B  ofFei's  him  a  straw  hat  for  it.     If  he  wants 
a  straw  hat,  and  thinks  that,  were  he   to  set  a  making  one,  it 
would  occupy  him  more  than  two  days,  and  moreover,  that  neither 
D,  E  or  F,  who  make  straw  hats,  will  give  it  for  less ;   he  will 
be  inclined  to  make  the  exchange.     In  doing  so,  it  is  a  matter  of 
indifference  to  him  what  time  B  may  have  expended  in  making 
the  hat,  his  only  reason  for  entering  into  the  transaction,  is  the 
saving  of  labor  to  himself  he  thereby  effects.    In  reality,  however, 
it  is  altogether  likely  that  B  has  not  expended  more  than   two 
days  in  making  it.     For,  supposing,  as  in  this  case  we  may,  that 
both  A  and  B  have  the  same  natural  faculties,  B,  were  he  to  set 
about  makino;  willow  baskets,  could  make  them  as  well  and  as 
easily  as  A,  that  is  at  the  rate  of  one  in  two  days.     If  then  the 
straw  hat  cost  him  more  than  two  days'  labor,  he  would  rather 
make  a  willow  basket  for  himself  than  exchange  his  straw  hat  for 
it.     Even  if  he   had  not  the  manual  skill  necessary,  he  would 
apply  himself  to  acquire  it,  and  take  to  the  occupation  of  basket- 
making  in  preference  to  that  of  making  hats ;  as  we  see,  in  em- 
ployments where  mere  labor  is  concerned,  that  one  is  deserted 
for  another  according  as  it  gives  less  or  more  wages. 

It  so  comes  to  pass  that  in  the  same  society,  in  all  ex- 
changes, as  far  as  we  can  conceive  mere  labor  to  be  concerned, 
one  man,  A,  barters  that  which  has  cost  him  two,  or  twenty  days' 
labor,  with  that  which  has  cost  another,  B,  two,  or  twenty  days' 
labor.  We  must  however  bear  in  mind,  that  neither  does  A 
offer  the  article,  nor  does  B  receive  it,  simply  because  it  has  cost 
two,  or  twenty  days'  labor.  A  offers  it,  and  B  receives  it, 
because  it  is  an  instrument  to  supply  future  wants,  and  under  the 
supposition  that  it  cannot  be  got  for  less  than  two  or  twenty  days' 
labor.  In  such  cases,  the  person  desirous  of  making  the  exchange 
may  indeed  say  to  the  individual  with  whom  he  wishes  to  ex- 
change ;  Sir,  I  assure  you  the  article  cost  me  two,  or  twenty 
days'  labor,  as  the  case  may  be  ;  and  being  assured  of  this,  the 


168  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

person  so  addressed  may  think  it  sufficient  grounds  to  make  the 
excliange,  and  may  so  conclude  the  bargain  ;  but  he  does  so,  not 
because  the  other  has  expended  two  or  twenty  days'  labor  on  it, 
but  because,  he  having  expended  this,  he  concludes  it  cannot  be 
got  for  less.  That  if  it  has  cost  him  two  or  twenty  days'  work, 
it  would  have  cost,  and  would  cost  himself,  or  a'ny  other,  the 
same  labor.  If  he  knows  that  the  person  desirous  of  exchanging 
is  an  unskilful  or  bungling  workman,  or  if  he  sees  that  the  labor 
has  been  injudiciously  applied,  he  will  not  give  what  is  demanded. 
He  knows,  in  that  case,  that  he  can  make  it,  or  get  it  made,  for 
less.  Were  one  to  employ  himself  in  rolling  a  stone  up  hill  and 
down  hill  for  a  month  together,  he  would  leave  it  as  useless  to 
him  in  the  way  of  exchange  as  before  he  put  his  hand  to  it. 

It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  rule,  then,  that  in  as  far  as  labor 
simply  is  concerned  in  all  exchanges,  one  thing  will  be  bartered 
for  another,  not  in  proportion  to  the  labor  that  has  been  respec- 
tively bestowed  on  each,  but  in  proportion  to  that  which  it  is 
necessary  to  bestow  on  materials,  similar  to  those  of  which  each 
has  been  constructed,  to  make  other  articles  equal  to  them  in 
capacity  to  supply  wants.  That,  if  this  basket  exchanges  for  that 
hat,  though  each  may  have  cost  two  days'  labor,  it  is  not  exactly 
because  each  has  cost  it,  but  because  neither  a  basket  equally 
good  as  the  one,  nor  a  hat  equally  good  as  the  other,  can  be 
made  for  less  than  two  days'  labor. 

As  a  corollary  from  this,  it  follows  that,  whenever  an  article 
comes  to  be  made  with  less  labor  than  formerly,  articles  of  the 
same  sort  which  may  have  been  previously  manufactured,  procure 
for  their  owners  less  of  other  articles  in  exchange  than  they  did 
before.  They  exchange,  not  for  what  labor  has  been  actually 
wrought  up  in  them,  but  for  what  is  now  required  to  make  others 
similar  to  them.  Thus,  supposing  that  a  basket-maker,  say  in 
some  settlement  in  North  America,  havinjj  to  e:o  on  foot  a  con- 
siderable  distance  through  woods  and  swamps  for  his  willow  twigs, 
requires  one  day  to  procure  enough  to  make  a  basket,  and  that 
he  lakes  another  to  work  them  up,  he  would  then  probably 
receive  for  each  basket  two  days'  labor,  or  articles  having  cost 
two  days'  labor.  If  now,  however,  a  place  where  equally  good 
willows  grow  is  discovered  near  at  hand,  so  that  only  half  a  day 
is  required  to  get  enough  for  a  basket,  and  if  this  is  generally 
known,  he  will  no  longer  be  able  to  exchange  them  at  the  same 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  169 

rate,  because,  as  we  have  seen,  other  people  would  make  baskets 
for  less,  that  is,  for  one  and  a  half  days'  labor,  or  for  articles  in 
the  fabrication  of  which  the  labor  of  one  and  a  half  days  had  been 
expended.  Any  stock  then  he  might  have  on  hand  of  baskets 
made  previously  to  this  discovery,  would  only  exchange  for  ar- ' 
tides  requiring  for  their  fabrication  the  labor  of  a  day  and  a  half. 
The  same  rule  that  applies  to  this  trivial  instance,  holds  good  in 
affairs  of  greater  importance,  and  regulates  a  large  amount  of 
exchanges. 

It  can  however  never  exactly  happen,  that  labor  will  be  ex- 
changed, in  this  simple  way,  for  labor.  The  formation  of  every  in- 
strument, besides  labor,  requires  also  the  assistance  of  some  other 
instrument.  Even  the  basket-maker  and  the  hat-maker,  allowing 
them  to  get  the  twigs  and  straw  they  require,  for  the  trouble  of 
collecting  them,  would  need,  the  one  at  least  a  knife,  and  the 
other  a  needle  and  thread.  Auxiliaries  so  inconsiderable  as  these 
need  scarce  be  noticed  in  the  reckoning  ;  but  there  are  cases 
where  these  assisting  instruments  may  be  said  to  do  a  great  part, 
others,  in  which  they  may  be  said  to  do  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
work.  In  a  steam-boat  the  engine  may  be  considered  as  the 
great  laboring  power,  though  the  services  of  the  men  who  supply 
fuel,  and  regulate  the  motion  of  it  and  of  the  boat,  enter  also 
largely  into  the  account.  In  a  set  of  well-contrived,  and  well- 
finished  pipes,  for  conducting  water  through  a  city  to  the  different 
houses  in  it,  the  amount  of  human  labor  entering  into  the  process 
is  very  trifling. 

A  weaver  we  shall  suppose  receives  thread  to  weave  into  a 
piece  of  linen,  and  finishes  the  job  in  thirty  days.  Were  he  now 
in  return,  to  receive  from  his  employer  simply  thirty  days'  labor,  he 
would  get  too  little.  For,  his  loom  being  an  instrument  partially 
exhausted  in  fabricating  the  linen,  this  exhaustion  ou^ht  to  form 
an  item  in  the  account.  Suppose  that  the  effective  desire  of 
accumulation  of  the  individual,  is  of  strength  sufficient  to  carry 
him  to  the  order  G,  doubling  in  seven  years,  that  the  loom  cost 
one  hundred  days'  labor,  and  that  it  will  be  exhausted  in  seven 
years ;  it  would  then  require  to  return  two  hundred  days'  labor,  or 
an  equivalent,  at  the  end  of  that  period.  The  return  however 
is  not  delayed  so  long,  but  begins  to  come  in  daily,  immediately 
after  its  construction.  Calculating  then  what  yearly  return  is 
equal  to  two  hundred  days  at  the  end  of  seven  years,  in  the 

22 


170  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

estimation  of  a  man  who  reckons  one  day  now  equal  to  two  then, 
it  will  turn  out  to  be  nearly  twenty  days.  We  may  allow  that 
the  loom  is  in  employment  three  hundred  days  a  year,  it  would 
therefore,  on  these  principles,  have  to  return  two  days  labor,  for 
every  thirty  days  during  which  it  was  in  operation,  and  the 
weaver  would  consequently  have  to  receive  an  equivalent  to  thirty- 
two  days'  labor ;  at  least  had  he  not  a  moral  certainty  of  receiving 
this,  he  would  not  have  formed  the  instrument,  and  were  such 
return  to  cease  he  would  not  reconstruct  it. 

The  transport  of  goods  by  sea  is  an  event  brought  about  as 
iDUch  by  the  agency  of  instruments,  as  by  direct  human  labor. 
A  vessel  costs,  we  shall  say,  five  thousand  days'  labor,  and  is 
exhausted  in  seven  years,  she  is  navigated  by  three  men.  If  she 
belongs  to  a  person  whose  effective  desire  of  accumulation  carries 
him  only  to  the  class  G,  and  supposing  they  who  navigate  her  to 
be  paid  for  three  hundred  days'  labor,  she  must,  on  these  principles, 
return  about  nineteen  hundred  days'  labor  annually.  Say  she 
is  freighted  to  carry  a  cargo  of  timber,  and  that  the  voyage  oc- 
cupies three  months.  This  transport  is  a  part  of  the  process  of 
the  formation  of  certain  instruments,  houses,  furniture,  &c.  as 
necessary  as  any  other  part  of  it,  the  owner  will  tlierefore  receive 
directly,  or  indirectly,  from  those  engaged  in  their  formation,  an 
equivalent  to  not  less  than  four  hundred  and  seventy-five  days' 
labor. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  too,  that,  even  in  cases  where  labor  alone 
seems  to  be  paid  for,  time  generally  also  forms  one  of  the  items 
to  be  taken  into  account.  Thus,  an  individual  contracts,  within 
three  months,  to  fell  the  trees  on  a  certain  piece  of  forest 
land  in  a  North  American  settlement.  If  then  he  be  paid  at  the 
commencement  of  the  three  months,  he  will  expect  to  receive 
less  than  if  payment  be  deferred  until  the  expiration  of  that  time, 
and  the  difference  between  the  two  amounts  will  be  regulated, 
as  in  other  cases,  by  the  particular  orders  to  which  instruments, 
in  that  particular  situation,  are  generally  wrought  up.  The  same 
things  hold  good  in  all  instances  where  labor  is  paid  for  by  the 
work  executed,  or,  as  it  is  termed,  by  the  piece. 

The  division  of  employments  and  consequent  prevalence  of 
the  system  of  exchange,  occasions  a  particular  classification  of 
instruments. 

Before  the  division  of  employments  takes  place,  the  instru- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  171 

ments  which  every  man  forms,  or  causes  to  be  formed,  are  for 
his  immediate  use,  and  after  it  has  taken  place,  the  portion  in- 
dividuals reserve  for  this  purpose  makes  still  a  considerable  part 
of  the  whole  instruments  belonging  to  any  community.  Even 
the  poorest  beggar  has  some  clothes  to  cover  him  ;  the  opulent 
have  houses,  furniture,  clothing,  gardens,  pleasure-grounds,  k.c. 
This  part  of  the  whole  instruments  possessed  by  individuals  or 
communities  is  termed  a  stocJc  reserved  for  immediate  consumption. 

The  remainder  of  the  general  stock  of  instruments  of  individ- 
uals and  of  societies,  with  the  exception  of  land,  considered  not 
as  actually  cultivated,  but  as  having  a  capacity  for  being  culti- 
vated, is  termed  capital.  The  instruments  to  which  this  term 
applies  supply  the  future  wants  of  the  individuals  owning  them, 
indirectly,  either  from  being  themselves  commodities  that  may 
be  exchanged  for  articles  directly  suited  to  their  needs,  or  by 
their  capacity  of  producing  commodities  which  may  be  so  ex- 
changed. 

Capital  itself  is  again  subdivided  into  fixed,  and  circulating 
capital.  Fixed  capital  consists  of  instruments  which  have  a 
capacity  for  producing  commodities  to  be  exchanged,  but  are  not 
themselves  formed  for  the  purpose  of  being  exchanged.  Cir- 
culating capital  consists  of  commodities  fitted  for  being  exchanged, 
or  of  instruments  in  process  of  formation  into  such  commodities. 

It  often  happens  that  the  division  between  fixed  and  circulat- 
ing capital  is  drawn  with  difficulty,  some  instruments  belonging 
partly  to  the  one,  and  partly  to  the  other.  Thus  a  horse  em- 
ployed for  agricultural  purposes  is  a  part  of  fixed  capital,  while 
an  ox  may  belong  partly  to  fixed,  and  partly  to  circulating  cap- 
ital, as  he  is  reared  and  fed,  in  part  for  the  services  expected 
from  him  as  an  animal  of  draft,  and  in  part  for  tlie  price  his  carcase 
brings. 

The  whole  instruments  owned  by  an  Individual,  or  a  society, 
and  comprehended  under  the  terms  a  stock  reserved  for  imme- 
diate consumption,  fixed  and  circulating  capital,  have  received 
the  general  appellation  of  stock. 

All  instruments,  whether  comprehended  under  the  divisions 
capital  fixed  and  circulating,  or  a  stock  reserved  for  immediate 
consumption,  possess  a  capacity  for  supplying  the  wants,  or  sav- 
ing the  labor  of  man.  But  the  wants  which  they  supply,  and 
the  labor  which  they   save,  are   in   general  not  immediate,  but 


172  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

future.  Now  we  cannot  estimate  the  same  amount  of  labor  saved, 
or  wants  supplied  tomorrow,  and  five,  or  fifty  years  hence,  as 
equivalent,  the  one  to  the  other.  Thus  if  we  compare  together 
a  hundred  full  grown  trees,  and  as  many  saplings,  it  may  be, 
that,  estimated  in  the  supply  they  yield  the  wants  of  futurity, 
they  are  alike.  If  the  former  be  cut  down  tomorrow  they  may 
yield  a  hundred  cords  fire  wood,  and  if  the  latter  be  cut  down 
fifty  years  hence  they  may  yield  the  same.  We  should  not 
nevertheless  conceive,  that  they  were  equal  the  one  to  the  other. 
What  measure  then  are  we  to  adopt  for  comparing  them  and 
other  such  instruments  together,  and  thus  finding  an  expression  , 
in  a  quantity  of  immediate  labor  for  the  whole  capacity  of  in- 
struments possessed  by  any  community  or  for  the  whole  stock 
of  that  community  ?  The  natural  measure  would  seem  to  be 
the  relative  estimate,  which  the  individuals  concerned  them- 
selves form  of  the  present  and  the  future,  that  is,  the  strength 
of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  of  the  particular  com- 
munity. Thus  in  a  community  whose  effective  desire  of  ac- 
cumulation is  of  strength  sufficient  to  carry  it  to  the  formation 
of  instruments  of  the  order  E,  doubling  in  five  years,  an  in- 
strument, which  at  the  expiration  of  five  years  yielded  a  re- 
turn equivalent  to  two  days'  labor,  might  fairly  be  estimated  as 
equivalent  to  one  day's  present  labor ;  if  at  the  expiration  of 
ten  years  it  yielded  an  equivalent  to  four  days'  labor,  it  might 
also  now  be  rated  at  one  day's  labor,  and  so  for  other  periods. 
This  therefore  is  a  mode  of  expressing  in  present  days'  labor  the 
whole  capacity  of  the  instruments  owned  by  any  society  which 
will  be  made  use  of  in  the  following  pages  ;  and  the  terms,  the 
absolute  stock,  and  absolute  capital  of  that  society,  will  be  em- 
ployed to  denote  it. 

The  mode  however  in  which  the  fixed  and  circulating  capital 
and  stock  belonging  to  societies,  is  usually  estimated,  is  different. 
It  is  usual  to  estimate  the  instruments  belonging  to  any  society, 
by  comparing  them  with  one  another  as  they  actually  exchange, 
some  particular  commodity  being  made  choice  of  as  the  standard 
to  which  all  other  instruments  are  referred.  To  capital  and  stock 
estimated  in  this  mode,  the  terms,  the  relative  capital  and  stock 
of  societies,  will  be  applied. 

In  cases  where  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  of  a  com- 
munity has  had  opportunity  to  work  up  the  materials  possessed  by 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  I73 

it  into  instruments  of  an  order  correspondent  to  its  own  strength, 
the  absolute  and  relative  stock  must,  it  is  obvious,  agree ;  but,  in 
cases  where  the  accumulative  principle  has  not  yet  had  time  fully  to 
operate,  the  former  will  exceed  the  latter.  Thus,  were  we  to  sup- 
pose the  returns  made  by  the  whole  instruments  belonging  to  a  so- 
ciety, or  their  total  capacity,  to  be  suddenly  doubled,  without  any 
addition  to  the  labor  employed  in  forming  them,  the  total  absolute 
stock  of  the  society  would  also  be  doubled,  while  its  relative 
stock  would  remain  unaltered.  The  relations  of  the  several  in- 
struments possessed  by  it  remaining  the  same,  whatever  commodity 
had  been  adopted  as  the  standard,  when  applied  to  measure  the 
others  it  would  give  the  same  results  as  before.  It  never,  indeed, 
can  happen  that  any  increase  to  the  capacity  of  the  instruments 
forming  the  stock  of  a  society,  so  great  and  sudden  as  we  have 
supposed,  can  take  place  ;  but  however  small  such  increase,  it 
would  have  a  real  effect,  and  would  occasion  a  difference  in  the 
amount  of  the  whole  stock  as  estimated  in  the  one  or  the  other 
manner.  Every  such  increase  is  effected  through  th^  operation 
of  the  inventive  faculty,  and  we  shall  therefore  refer  the  consid- 
eration of  the  effects  flowing  from  it,  until  we  come  to  treat  of 
the  phenomena  resulting  from  the  progress  of  that  faculty. 

Though  the  division  of  employments  consequent  to  the  pro- 
gress of  science  and  art,  and  the  operation  of  the  accumulative 
principle,  on  the  whole  greatly  accelerates  the  exhaustion  of 
instruments,  there  are  yet  some  particulars  in  which  it  tends 
somewhat  to  retard  that  exhaustion.  In  the  most  simple  state 
of  society,  when  art  is  so  rude,  and  accumulation  so  little  ad- 
vanced, that  each  individual  forms  almost  all  the  instruments  he 
himself  or  his  family  exhaust,  and  when,  consequently,  the  general 
stock  of  the  community  is  nearly  altogether  a  stock  formed  and 
reserved  for  immediate  consumption,  it  can  seldom  happen  that 
there  will  be  either  an  over  abundance,  or  a  deficiency  of  instru- 
ments of  any  sort.  As  each  individual  can  make  an  accurate 
estimate  of  his  own  wants  and  those  of  his  family,  prudent  men, 
in  such  a  state  of  things,  provide  only  the  instruments  that  may 
be  of  use  to  them,  and  do  not  form  any  but  such  as  they  foresee 
will  come  into  employment  as  they  are  formed.  But  when  in- 
dividuals ceasing  to  form  only  instruments  directly  supplying  their 
own  wants,  give  the  greater  part  of  the  industry  they  can  com- 
mand to  manufacturing  commodities  for  the  purpose  of  exchange, 


174  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

as  they  have  not  the  means  of  calculating  with  equal  accuracy 
the  wants  of  other  men,  it  occasionally  happens  that  some  com- 
modities are  produced  in  excess,  and  that  there  is  a  deficiency 
of  others. 

When  again  the  state  of  society  is  such,  that  each  individual 
forms  almost  the  whole  instruments  he  requires,  there  is  very  little 
transport  of  commodities  from  place  to  place.  The  amount  of 
transport  necessarily  increases  with  the  separation  of  employments. 
This  forms  another  drawback  from  the  advantages  arisins;  from  the 
extension  of  the  division  of  occupations,  and  system  of  exchange. 
On  account  therefore  both  of  many  commodities  being  produced 
in  excess,  and  of  its  being  necessary  to  transport  most  from 
place  to  place,  there  are  always,  in  such  states  of  society,  very 
many  commodities  lying  idle,  being  neither  under  process  of 
formation  or  exhaustion,  but  collected  in  masses  at  different  points, 
waiting  till  some  vacancy  be  found  for  them.  The  longer  they 
.continue  in  this  state  tlie  farther  they  must  pass  towards  the 
orders  of  slower  return,  and  the  more  the  operation  of  the 
accumulative  principle  must  be  retarded. 

It  seems  to  be  chiefly  from  the  desire  of  obviating  somewhat 
these  two  disadvantages  attending  the  general  advance  of  art  and 
industry,  that,  when  the  nature  of  the  occupation  permits  it,  in- 
dividuals engaged  in  all  the  different  divisions  of  industry  place 
themselves  as  near  each  other  as  possible,  and  form  villages  and 
towns.  Each  can  thus  more  easily  adjust  the  amount  of  com- 
modities he  produces  to  the  wants  of  other  men,  and  thus  also 
there  arises  a  great  saving  of  transport. 

It  is  also  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  the  necessity  of  trans- 
porting commodities  from  place  to  place,  and  to  the  difficulty  of 
regulating  the  precise  amount  produced  consequent  on  the  divi- 
sion of  occupations,  that  there  arises  an  order  of  men,  that  of 
merchants,  devoting  themselves  solely  to  the  business  of  transport 
and  exchange.  Merchants  are  the  great  exchangers  of  society, 
regulating  the  production  of  commodities,  and  collecting  and  dis- 
tributing them  to  situations  where  the  never-ceasing  processes  of 
formation  and  exhaustion  are  producing  vacancies  for  them.  It 
is  their  business  to  make  these  exchanges  with  the  greatest  pos- 
sible rapidity,  and  least  possible  expense. 

There  is  a  general  average  time  elapsing  from  the  period  of 
the  formation  of  every  commodity,  until  it  pass  from  the  Individ- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  I75 

ual  havino-  formed  it,  to  the   individuals   who  exhaust  it  in  the 
supply  of  their  wants,  or  employ  it  in  tlie   formation  of  other 
instruments.     The  merchant  who   effects   the  transfer  of  com- 
modities between   the   other  members  of  society  is  entitled  to 
receive  an  amount  exceeding  that  which   he  gave,  by  the  return 
which  the  labor  embodied   in   the   commodity  exchanged  should 
yield  for  this  average  time,  according  to  the  general  rate  of  re- 
turn of  capital  in  the  community.     If  therefore   the   superior 
intelligence,  penetration,   and  activity   of  any   merchant,  giving 
him   the    power  of  foreseeing   with    greater    accuracy  than  his 
brethren  where  vacancies  are  about  to  exist,   and  what  will  be 
their  extent,  and  of  discovering  where  the  commodities  proper 
to  fill  them  up  may  most  readily  be  found,  and  most  easily  trans- 
ported to  the  requisite  places,  enables  him  to  effect   these  trans- 
fers with  greater  facility   than   usual,   and  within  less   than  the 
average  time,  he  will  receive  a  proportionally  greater  return  than 
other  merchants.    On  the  contrary,  if,  from  a  deficiency  in  these 
qualities,  any  merchant  attempt  the   transfer  of  commodities  for 
which  there  is  no  vacancy,  or  effect  the  transfer  of  commodities 
for  which  there   is  a  vacancy,  at  more   than   tlie   average  ex- 
pense, or  in  more  than    the  average  time,  the  returns   his  cap- 
ital yields  him  will  be  less  than   those  usually   received   by  the 
other  members  of  the  community.     Mercantile  energy  is   thus 
stimulated  to  effect  all  practicable  exchanges  with   the   greatest 
possible  celerity,  and  at  the  least  possible  expense.     The   activ- 
ity wjiich  is  in  consequence  given  to  the  process  of  exchange,  is 
a  circumstance  exceedingly  beneficial  to  the  interests  of  the  com- 
munity.    By  lessening  the  distance  between  the  periods   of  for- 
mation and  exhaustion,  and  diminishing  the  expense  of  forma- 
tion, for  transport  makes  a  part  of  that  expense,  the  successful 
exertions  of  the  mercantile   portion  of  society  have   a   powerful 
tendency  to  preserve  instruments  in  the  more  quickly  returning 
orders,  and  to  excite   the   action   of  the   accumulative  principle. 
Our  subject  consequently  requires  us  to  examine  somewhat  more 
particularly  the  mechanism  by  which  the  business    of  merchants 
is  conducted,  and  the  mode  of  calculation  by  which  it  is  practi- 
cally regulated.     Our  attention  too  is  more  especially  called  to 
these,  because  it  is  from  the  former  that  the  principles  of  the 
present  science  of  political  economy  are   derived,   and  on  the 
latter  that  its  nomenclature  is  founded. 


176  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

The  foundation  of  the  mechanism  of  mercantile  transactions  is 

Money. 

Gold  and  silver,  or,  as  they  are  called,  the  precious  metals, 
are  more  properly  entitled  to  the  appellation  of  money  than  any 
other  thing  is,  because  they  more  generally  pass  for  money  than 
does  any  thing  else.  Their  beauty,  their  incorruptibility,  and 
some  other  of  their  qualities  afterwards  to  be  considered,  have, 
in  almost  every  country,  rendered  them  the  means  of  affording 
much  enjoyment,  that  is,  of  supplying,  to  a  large  extent,  certain 
of  the  wants  of  man.  It  seems  likely  that  these  qualities,  joined 
to  the  facility  with  which  they  may  be  transported  from  place 
to  place,  first  made  them  esteemed  the  most  desirable  of  all  com- 
modities that  one  could  possess.  In  the  very  frequent  revolu- 
tions and  commotions  that  occur  in  the  earlier  ages  of  society, 
articles  that  do  not  decay,  can  be  hid,  or  carried  off  without  dif- 
ficulty, and  are  always  estimable,  would  naturally  of  all  others 
be  most  coveted.  They  thus  probably  were  first  chiefly  sought 
after,  for  the  purpose  of  being  retained,  not  for  that  of  being 
exchanged  ;  even  yet  in  many  countries,  partly  from  old  habits, 
and  partly  from  still  prevailing  insecurity,  they  are  chiefly  prized 
as  of  all  things,  those  best  fit  to  be  hoarded.  But,  in  whatever 
manner  their  use  may  have  been  introduced,  or  how  much  soever 
in  some  countries  it  may  be  dependent  on  a  feeling  of  insecurity, 
at  present  or  formerly  prevailing,  and  prompting  their  possessors 
to  keep  not  to  part  with  them,  they  are  now  more  generally  sought 
for,  for  the  purpose  of  being  imrnediately  passed  away,  forming, 
in  the  shape  of  money,  the  great  medium  of  exchange,  and  it  is 
solely  in  the  part  they  thus  act,  that  we  have  here  very  briefly 
to  consider  them. 

When,  in  the  progress  of  society,  men  divide  into  different 
occupations,  and  each  ceasing  to  fabricate  himself  all  the  instru- 
ments his  wants  require,  barters  the  instruments  or  commodities 
he  forms  for  those  formed  by  others,  the  system  of  exchange,  as 
we  have  seen,  commences.  The  introduction,  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  of  some  sort  of  money,  seems  naturally  to  follow. 
For  when  a  man  forms  only  one  sort  of  instruments  or  commod- 
ities, it  cannot  at  all  times  happen  that  he  can  exchange  them 
with  articles  fabricated  by  other  men,  and  necessary  to  supply 
his  wants,  because  these  other  men,  the  formers  and  possessors 
of  what  he  desires,  may  not  at  the  moment  have  occasion  for 
what  he  has  formed.     "  The  butcher  has  more  meat  in  his  shop 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  177 

than  he  himself  can  consume,  and  the  brewer  and  the  baker 
would  each  of  them  be  willing  to  purchase  a  part  of  it.  But 
they  have  nothing  to  offer  in  exchange,  except  the  particular 
productions  of  their  respective  trades,  and  the  butcher  is  already- 
provided  with  all  the  bread  and  beer  which  he  has  immediate 
occasion  for."*  There  are  two  modes  by  which  the  desired  ex- 
change may  be  effected.  If  the  brewer  and  the  baker  have  a 
commodity  received  by  every  one  for  all  others,  such  as  money 
is,  they  may  each  give  the  butcher  a  certain  quantity  of  it  for  a 
quantity  of  meat,  and  when  he  requires  their  ale  and  bread,  he 
may,  in  turn,  send  back  to  them  also  a  quantity  of  money.  Or, 
the  butcher  may  be  satisfied  with  the  promise  of  the  brewer  and 
the  baker,  that,  at  some  future  time,  when  he  has  occasion  for 
it,  they  will  give  him  a  quantity  of  ale  and  bread,  or  of  some- 
thing else.  These  two  modes  of  effecting  the  object  form  the 
two  systems  of  cash,  or  credit,  by  which  all  the  business  of  every 
country  that  consists  not  in  barter,  is  carried  on. 

Pieces  of  gold  and  silver  coined,  that  is  stamped  with  a  mark 
regulating  and  assuring  by  the  authority  of  the  magistrate  the 
weight  and  fineness  of  each,  enter  largely  into  transactions  of 
the  former  order ;  they  make  the  bulk  of  the  current  coin  of  most 
countries.  Supposing  the  whole  of  the  exchanges  of  any  coun- 
try that  are  not  simple  barter,  effected  by  money,  and  that  gold 
and  silver  form  the  sole  money,  then  the  amount  of  them  so 
employed  would  seem  to  be  regulated  by  two  circumstances. 

1st.  By  the  quantity  of  commodities  that  may  exist  to  be  ex- 
changed. This  again  must  depend  on  the  quantity  of  materials 
wrought  up  into  instruments,  and  on  the  progress  of  the  division 
of  labor.  As  the  number  of  instruments  increase,  and  as  from 
their  first  commencing  formation,  until  they  are  exhausted,  they 
pass  through  more  hands,  the  amount  of  exchanges  must  in- 
crease. As  the  number  of  instruments  formed  decreases,  and  as 
every  man  himself  constructs  a  greater  proportion  of  those  ne- 
cessary to  supply  his  own  wants,  the  amount  of  exchanges  must 
diminish,  and  as  the  amount  of  exchanges  increases,  or  dimin- 
ishes, so  must  there  be  required  a  greater  or  less  quantity  of  the 
medium  through  which  they  are  transacted. 

In  such  a  state  of  things  as  we  suppose,  could  every  man  see 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  I.  c.  IV. 

23 


178  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

exactly  beforehand  the  whole  series  of  the  exchanges  that  would 
present  themselves  to  hhn,  every  prudent  man  would  so  manage 
his  exchanges,  his  purchases  that  is,  and  his  sales,  as  to  provide 
himself  with  the  exact  amount  of  money  necessary  to  effect 
every  exchange  that  he  might  deem  it  advisable  to  execute. 
But  no  man  can  with  accuracy  foresee  what  transactions  may 
present  themselves  to  him,  or  when  they  may  do  so.  The 
amount  of  possible  future  exchanges  that  may  offer  to  any  man, 
and  the  time  they  may  occur,  are  exceedingly  uncertain,  depend- 
ing on  many  things  not  to  be  foreknown,  the  operations  of  other 
individuals  engaged  in  the  formation  of  instruments,  immediately, 
or  remotely  connected  with  those  on  which  his  means  or  industry 
is  engaged,  the  course  of  the  winds  and  seasons,  the  fortune  of 
war,  the  progress  of  treaties,  and  numberless  other  events  equally 
doubtful  in  their  issues.  Every  man,  therefore,  would  in  such  a 
state  of  things,  suffer  two  inconveniences,  he  would  occasionally 
have  too  much  money,  and  occasionally  too  little.  He  would 
sometimes  have  a  sum  lying  for  a  long  time  useless  by  him,  and 
an  advantageous  purchase  would  sometimes  present  itself  to  him 
which  he  had  not  cash  sufficient  to  effect.  Between  these  two 
opposite  evils,  it  would  be  his  business  to  steer  as  safe  a  course 
as  possible  ;  he  could  not  hope  altogether  to  avoid  them,  but 
must  be  content  to  suffer  occasionally  from  both.  Which  of  the 
two  it  would  be  most  prudent  for  liim  to  run  the  risk  of  suffering 
from,  would,  I  conceive,  depend  on  another  circumstance,  form- 
ing the  second  of  those  that,  under  the  suppositions  we  have 
made,  regulate  the  amount  of  precious  metals  in  circulation. 

Every  man  must  be  more  unwilling  to  run  the  risk  of  having 
a  sum  of  money  lying  useless  by  him,  by  how  much  greater  the 
amount  of  the  returns  he  could  have  by  turning  it  to  the  forma- 
tion of  instruments.  If  then,  in  the  society  of  which  any  man 
is  a  member,  instruments  are  not  far  removed  from  the  first  orders 
of  our  series,  when  they  soonest  double  the  expenditure  of  their 
formation,  he  will  rather  risk  the  inconvenience  of  having  too 
little  money  by  him,  than  the  loss  of  having  a  sum  in  his  coffers 
long  unemployed,  which  might  have  been  converted  into  instru- 
ments yielding  large  returns.  But  if,  in  the  society  of  which  he 
is  a  member,  instruments  are  far  removed  from  the  first  orders  of 
our  series,  he  will  be  disposed  to  reserve  a  greater  amount  in 
the  hopes  of  making  more  by  some  advantageous  bargain,  than 
he  could  by  expending  it  on  the  formation  of  any  instrument. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  179 

We  should  expect  then  to  find,  that,  in  countries  where  either  the 
principle  of  accumulation  is  too  weak  to  carry  instruments  on  to 
the  more  slowly  returning  orders,  or  where  it  has  not  yet  had 
time  to  do  so,  money  would  be  scarce,  and  that,  where  this  prin- 
ciple having  had  lime  to  act,  its  strength  has  carried  them  to  the 
farther  orders,  there  money  would  be  plenty.  Such  will  be 
found  to  be  the  fact.  In  China,  gold  and  silver  are  rarely  seen, 
in  the  interior  traffic  of  the  country^  in  Holland,  they  have 
always  abounded.  In  new  settlements  in  America,  where  from 
the  superabundance  of  materials,  instruments  are  of  very  quickly 
returning  orders,  the  amount  of  coin  to  be  found  is  exceedingly 
small.  When  a  man  there  has  cash  in  his  pocket,  he  finds  so 
many  things  that  he  could  with  profit  expend  it  on,  that  he  can 
scarcely  refrain  from  doing  so. 

An  European  visiting  some  parts  of  Upper  Canada,  is  sur- 
prised, when   he  comes  to  discover,  that  a  kw  dollars  is  all  the 
cash  that  even  men  comparatively  rich  may  have  lying  by  tbem. 
He  is  apt  to  conceive  that  they  are  poor  men,  and  to  describe 
the  country  as  a  poor  country.     In  doing  so,  however,  he  does 
not  make  a  correct  use  of  words.     He  sees,  for  instance,  a  man 
who,  ten  years  before,  may  have  brought  a  sum  of  two  hundred 
pounds  to  the  place  where  he  is  now  setded,  without  at   present 
twenty  dollars  in  his  pocket,  and  who  perhaps,  were  that  sura  sud- 
denly demanded  of  him,  might  have  difficulty  to  procure  it.     In 
one  sense,  then,  the  man  is  poor.     But,  were  this  man  asked  to 
sell  his  farm  and  his  other  property,  he  probably  would  not  give 
it  for  less  than  a  thousand   pounds,  and  he  might  get  this  sum 
for  it.     If  so,  it  is  ten  to  one  that  he  would  lay  out  the  greater 
part  of  it  in  the  purchase  of  a  larger  quantity  of  land  than  he 
before  possessed,  and   the  remainder  in  improving  that  land,  so 
that  a  year  or  two  would  see  him  just  as  bare  of  cash  as  before, 
and   twelve  years   afterwards,  if  he   went  on   prosperously,  he 
would  still   have  but   a  trifle  of  ready  cash,  though   perhaps  he 
might  truly  consider  his  property  worth   two  or  three  thousand 
pounds,  and  might  not  be  disposed  to  take  less  for  it.     He  could 
hardly  therefore  be  called  a  poor  man.     In  this  part  of  America, 
as  formerly  over  the  whole  of  it,  "  the  scarcity  of  gold  and  silver 
money  is  not  the  effect  of  the  poverty  of  that  country,  or  of  the 
inability  of  the  people   there  to  purchase   those  metals.     The 
scarcity  of  these  metals  is  the  effect  of  choice  and  not  of  neces- 


130  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

sity.  It  is  convenient  for  the  Americans,  who  can  always  em- 
ploy with  profit,  in  the  improvement  of  their  lands,  a  greater 
stock  than  they  can  easily  get,  to  save  as  much  as  possible  the 
expense  of  so  costly  an  instrument  as  gold  and  silver  ;  and  rather 
to  employ  that  part  of  their  surplus  produce  which  would  be 
necessary  for  purchasing  those  metals,  in  purchasing  the  instru- 
ments of  trade,  the  materials  of  clothing,  several  parts  of  house- 
hold furniture,  and  the  iron  work  necessary  for  building  and  ex- 
tending their  settlements,  in  purchasing,  not  dead  stock,  but 
active  and  productive  stock."* 

But,  though  the  loss  of  having  more  idle  cash  lying  by  one, 
than  can  possibly  be  dispensed  with,  must  be  felt  most  sensibly 
where  such  cash  can  be  most  profitably  expended,  where  instru- 
ments, that  is,  are  not  far  from  the  first  orders  of  our  series,  still 
it  must  always  be  felt.  A  man  will  never  keep  two  hundred 
pounds  in  his  chest,  if  he  thinks  it  probable  that  one  hundred 
will  be  sufficient,  because  he  can  always  make  something  of  the 
other  hundred.  Although  however,  men,  in  such  cases,  must  be 
governed  by  what  they  think  probably  will  happen,  yet,  as  no 
man  can  foresee  with  certainty  what  may  happen,  every  man 
will  now  and  then  be  wrong  in  his  calculations,  and  therefore, 
under  the  suppositions  we  have  made,  every  man  would  occa- 
sionally suffer  from  having  too  little  cash,  as  well  as  at  other 
times  from  having  too  much. 

The  effect  of  both  these  sorts  of  losses  must  be,  to  place  the 
Instruments  on  which  they  operate  in  orders  of  slower  return, 
than  they  would  otherwise  occupy.  One  wishes  to  purchase  a 
pair  of  young  horses  of  a  particular  sort ;  for  this  purpose  he 
reserves  a  quantity  of  coin  equivalent  to  four  hundred  days'  labor ; 
he  happens,  however,  not  to  meet  with  a  pair  that  suits  him  for 
the  space  of  six  months,  when  he  purchases  two,  giving  for  them 
the  amount  he  had  anticipated.  It  is  evident,  in  this  case,  that 
they  have  really  cost  him,  not  only  the  four  hundred  days'  labor, 
but  all  that  in  the  country  in  which  he  lives,  that  labor  would 
have  produced,  besides  paying  for  itself,  during  the  six  months 
he  was  looking;  out  for  the  bargain.  Now,  as  this  additional 
outlay  cannot  add  to  the  capacity  of  these  instruments,  to  the 
strength,  swiftness,  beauty,  and  health,  that  is,  of  the  animals, 
nor  diminish  their  age,  it  must  be  esteemed  as  lessening  the  pro- 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  V.  c.  III. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  181 

portion  between  the  return  to  be  got  from  them,  and  the  outlay 
expended  on  them,  and  must  move  them  proportionally  towards 
the  orders  of"  slower  return.  Again,  it  may  have  been  that  the 
person  who  at  last  sold  the  horses,  may  have  been  desirous  of 
selling  them  for  six  months  before  he  effected  the  sale,  and  that 
at  the  commencement  of  that  period  he  may  have  met  with  an 
individual  who  would  have  purchased  theuj,  but  not  having  an- 
ticipated the  occurrence  of  so  favorable  an  offer,  happened  not 
then  to  have  the  necessary  cash.  If  we  suppose  them  to  have 
been  merely  useless  to  their  owner  during  the  period  from  thence 
elapsed,  the  service  they  rendered  him  being  just  sufficient  to 
pay  for  their  food  and  keep,  still,  this  retardation  in  the  return 
from  the  ouday  in  the  formation  of  them  as  an  instrument,  also 
moves  them  so  much  towards  the  more  slowly  returning  orders, 
and  diminishes  the  activity  of  the  accumulative  principle.  If 
the  individual  who  raised  them  does  not  receive  an  additional 
price,  proportionate  to  the  delay,  the  occurrence  will  have  a 
tendency  to  make  him  give  up  this  branch  of  business. 

Similar  events  taking  place  in  the  exchange  of  other  instru- 
ments, would  produce  similar  results,  and  therefore  two  evils 
would  necessarily  accompany  the  state  of  affairs  we  have  sup- 
posed. There  would  be  two  drawbacks  on  the  progress  of  the 
industry  of  the  society,  the  one  consisting  in  the  expense  of  the 
circulating  medium,  the  other  in  the  loss  arising  from  a  deficiency 
in  it.  The  two  together  would  be  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  exchanges  which  the  progress  of  knowledge,  the  strength  of 
the  principle  of  accumulation,  and  the  quality  of  the  materials 
within  reach  of  the  society  caused  to  be  transacted.  The  evil 
directly  arising  from  them  would  be  the  consequent  retardation 
of  the  returns  from  the  industry  of  the  society,  an  evil  equiva- 
lent to  a  proportional  diminution  of  these,  and  placing  them  in 
more  slowly  returning  orders.  The  evil  indirectly  arising  from 
them  would  be  the  keeping  a  greater  or  less  extent  of  materials, 
without  reach  of  the  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  of 
the  society,  and  the  consequent  nonformation,  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  of  instruments  that  would  otherwise  have  been  formed. 

The  proportion  between  the  two  would  be  determined  by  the 
order  to  which  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumula- 
tion, and  the  time  which  it  had  had  to  operate,  had  carried  the 
formation  of  instruments. 


182  ^^  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

But  the  state  of  things  we  have  supposed  never  exists.  It 
scarcely  happ£ns,  even  to  return  to  the  sort  of  transactions  we 
set  out  from,  that  a  butcher,  a  brewer,  a  baker,  deahng  together, 
effect  all  their  business  either  by  direct  barter,  or  by  cash.  The 
butcher  would,  in  very  many  cases,  be  satisfied  with  the  implied 
promise  of  the  brewer  and  the  baker,  that,  at  some  future  time, 
they  will  give  him  a  quantity  of  the  commodities  they  respect- 
ively deal  in,  or  of  money,  or  some  equivalent  to  it,  equal  to  the 
price  of  the  beef  each  received. 

This  mode  of  effecting  the  object,  constitutes  the  system  of 
credit,  the  second  of  the  two  systems  by  which  exchanges  are 
carried  on.  It  has  an  existence  in  every  country,  and  in  most 
civilized  countries,  as  is  well  known,  the  great  bulk  of  transac- 
tions are  carried  on  by  the  aid  of  it.  Were  the  actual  or  implied 
promise,  which  the  party  receiving  the  commodity  makes  to 
him  giving  it,  always  fulfilled,  it  would  in  itself  be  unattended 
with  any  loss,  and  might  possibly  be  so  managed  as  almost 
entirely  to  supersede  the  use  of  coined  money  as  a  medium  of 
exchange. 

The  amount  of  the  whole  purchases  made  by  any  individual 
within  a  limited  time,  is,  in  general,  about  equal  to  the  sales  he 
effects  within  the  same  time.  If,  therefore,  in  any  community, 
all  the  exchanges,  which  are  not  direct  barter,  were  to  be  trans- 
acted by  credit,  and  were  the  obligations  to  pay  granted  by  all 
persons  engaged  in  business  in  it  to  expire  at  the  same  time, 
when  that  time  came  round,  every  individual  would  hold  obliga- 
tions to  receive,  to  about  as  large  an  amount  as  he  had  granted 
to  pay.  If  then  each  individual  had  granted  obligations  to  pay, 
to  the  same  persons  as  he  had  received  others  from,  the  business 
would  be  at  once  concluded  by  a  reciprocal  delivery  of  obliga- 
tions. But  this  can  scarcely  ever  happen  ;  almost  all  the  obli- 
gations to  receive  payment,  which  any  individual  holds,  will  be 
from  other  persons  than  those  to  whom  he  himself  has  granted 
obligations.  The  affair  might  however  be  managed,  and  the 
same  end  arrived  at,  by  a  transfer  of  obligations  from  hand  to 
hand.  A  has  bound  himself  to  pay  B  fifty  pounds,  B  to  pay  C 
fifty  pounds,  and  C  to  pay  A  fifty  pounds.  If,  then,  A  pay  B, 
by  giving  him  C's  obligation,  B  can  discharge  his  debt  to  C  with 
it,  and  thus  the  debts  and  credits  of  the  whole  three  be  settled. 
By  operations  more  complicated,  but  conducted  on  similar  prin- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  183 

ciples,  nearly  the  whole  system  of  exchanges  of  any  community 
might  be  managed. 

There  are  two  obstacles  to  this  mode  of  efFectino;  exchanges 
by  credit.  The  first  arising  from  its  inherent  complexedness  and 
difficulty,  the  second  from  the  liability  of  the  contracting  parlies 
to  fail  in  fulfilling  their  engagements,  from  dishonesty,  miscal- 
culation, and  accidents  impossible  to  be  foreseen.  These  restrict 
its  application  in  general  to  transactions  for  large  amounts,  little 
doubtful  in  themselves,  and  which  from  their  nature  can  be  easily 
systematized  and  arranged.  Such  appears  to  have  been  the 
viremens,  or  transfers,  at  Lyon.*  Such  also  are  the  transfers 
effected  by  the  London  bankers.  In  Russia,  however,  it  would 
seem  to  be  applied  to  transactions  much  more  various,  and  com- 
plicated. ]Mr.  Storch  informs  us  that  the  creditors  and  debtors 
of  the  province  of  Kief,  and  several  others  adjoining,  the  pro- 
prietors, capitalists,  merchants,  those  who  want  funds,  and  those 
who  want  to  dispose  of  them,  meet  in  the  month  of  January,  in 
the  town  of  Kief,  to  make  such  transfers,  and  that  in  1804,  the 
amount  of  their  exchanges  was  upwards  of  twenty  millions  of 
rubles,  or  about  three  millions  seven  hundred  thousand  pounds 
sterling.  Transfers  similar  to  these  are  made,  he  adds,  at  Reval, 
and  many  other  towns  in  the  empire.f 

There  is  another  method  by  which  the  system  of  credits  might 
be  conducted,  and  which  may  be  illustrated  by  an  example  taken 
from  a  country  already  referred  to,  where  the  causes  exciting  to 
its  introduction,  and  giving  prevalence  to  it,  operate  very  power- 
fully. In  many  parts  of  North  America,  but  more  especially  in 
new  settlements  in  Upper  Canada,  the  scarcity  of  cash,  and 
perhaps  other  circumstances,  often  lead  traders  to  adopt  a  peculiar 
plan  of  business.  Every  dealer  provides  himself  with  a  general 
assortment  of  all  sorts  of  commodities  in  demand  in  the  settle- 
ment he  inhabits,  and  reckons  on  being  paid  for  them  in  the 
shape  of  grain,  potash,  pork,  beef,  and  other  commodities,  in  the 
formation  of  which  his  customers  are  engaged.  But  in  this  sort 
of  barter,  one  article  will  generally  fall  short  or  exceed  the  value 
of  the  other,  a  pound  of  tea  will  not  exchange  for  a  hog,  nor  a 
quarter  of  wheat  for  a  dozen  pounds  of  sugar.     To  obviate  the 

*  Ganilh  Des  systemes  d'economie  politique,  Tome  II.  p.  155. 
t  Storch  Cours  d'economie  Tome  II.  p.  3.53. 


184  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

difficulty,  the  merchant  opens  an  account  with  each  of  his  cus- 
tomers, charging  him  with  the  goods  furnished,  and  giving  him 
credit  for  the  produce  received,  and  in  this  way  perhaps  all  the 
transactions  between  the  two  are  managed,  either  by  barter  or 
credit,  witliout  the  assistance  of  a  dollar  of  cash.  Nor  is  this 
all,  a  great  variety  of  other  transactions  are  also  effected,  through 
his  intervention.  Any  person  who  may  have  furnished  him  with 
an  overplus  of  produce,  or  who  has  credit  with  him,  can  through 
his  means  settle  most  accounts  or  balances  due  on  accounts.  He 
may  thus  pay  the  laborers,  and  the  artificers,  and  tradesmen,  he 
may  employ,  by  an  order  on  the  shop,  or  as  it  is  called,  store,  of 
the  country  dealer.  Besides  these,  the  transactions  of  the  store- 
keeper extend  to  the  giving  out  of  the  raw  produce  of  the  coun- 
try, to  Individuals  in  the  settlement,  tradesmen,  he.  who  may 
not  themselves  have  enough,  and  to  the  receipt  in  return  of 
various  articles,  such  as  axes,  shoes,  boots,  made-up  clothes  ; 
and  in  this  way  through  his  books,  a  very  large  portion  of  the 
business  of  the  settlement  is  transacted.  It  is  not  difficult  to 
conceive,  that  the  whole  might  be  so  transacted. 

Were  the  country  dealer  always  to  have  a  supply  of  every 
article  in  demand  in  the  settlement,  at  a  reasonable  rate,  and 
were  all  contracts  for  the  delivery  of  produce  to  him  to  be  regu- 
larly executed,  almost  all  the  requisite  exchanges  might  be  con- 
veniently efiected  through  his  books.  But  in  this  sort  of  traffic, 
as  the  merchant  always  has  commodities  to  sell,  and  his  custom- 
ers have  not  always  produce  to  return,  it  inevitably  happens  that 
they  get  Into  his  debt.  As  his  object  is  to  sell  as  many  goods 
as  possible,  he  is  very  apt  to  allow  many  to  run  in  his  debt,  who 
do  not  fulfil  their  engagements.  He  suffers  from  the  dishonesty, 
or  the  imprudence  and  miscalculations  of  those  who  deal  with 
him.  Very  many  of  his  customers  are  much  longer  of  paying 
him  than  they  have  promised,  or  they  do  not  pay  at  all.  Aware 
of  the  risk  he  runs,  he  is  obliged  to  balance  it  by  charging  an 
additional  sum,  over  and  above  what  he  would  otherwise  demand, 
on  all  commodities  that  pass  through  his  hands.  In  some  cases, 
this  advance  amounts  to  at  least  30  per  cent.  In  this  way  he 
makes,  or  endeavors  to  make,  the  prudent  and  honest  persons 
who  deal  with  him,  pay  for  the  imprudent  and  dishonest,  who 
also  deal  with  him.  The  former  class,  in  consequence,  keep  out 
of  the  circle  of  all  such  transactions,  as  much  as  possible,  and 
store-pay,  as  it  is  called,  is  depreciated. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK  185 

The  business  of  banking,  seems  to  owe  its  foundation  and  ex- 
tension, to  its  capacity  for  giving  room  for  the  developement  of 
the  benefits,  and  for  restraining  and  remedying  the  evils  of  the 
system  of  credit.  The  operations  which  the  banker  executes  in 
a  great  society,  have  more  than  the  advantages  of  those  performed 
by  the  system  of  viremens  in  France,  or  Russia,  and  by  the 
petty  store-keeper  in  a  remote  American  settlement,  and  avoid 
many  of  the  inconveniences  of  both.  He  is  the  instrument, 
through  which  the  mass  of  the  exchanges,  taking  place  in  the  com- 
munity, is  performed.  It  is  his  business  to  furnish  the  means  of 
transacting  all  exchanges  that  the  condition  of  the  society  re- 
quires, and  it  is  the  business  of  all  individuals  having  many  such 
exchanges  to  effect,  to  make  application  to  him  for  the  means  of 
transactino-  them. 

In  a  great  society,  a  person  extensively  engaged  in  business, 
may,  in  a  short  time,  have  transactions  with  twenty,  thirty,  or  a 
hundred  individuals  ;  his  circumstances  can  be  known  but  to  a 
few  of  them,  nor  is  it  possible  for  him  to  produce  to  each  satis- 
factory evidence  of  his  own  capacity  to  discharge  his  engage- 
ments, or  to  give  him  the  security  of  others  for  their  performance, 
and  even  could  he  do  this,  it  would  be  insufficient  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  greater  part  of  them.  If  such  a  person,  however, 
really  possessed  funds  in  trade  and  manufacture,  if  he  really 
owned  a  stock  of  instruments  requiring  a  constant  change  and 
transfer  with  those  in  the  hands  of  others,  he  might  find  means 
to  satisfy  one  individual,  the  banker,  of  his  capacity  to  execute 
these  exchanges  in  reasonable  time,  or  procure  others  to  be 
responsible  for  his  doing  it.  It  is  then  the  business  of  the  banker 
to  give  him  the  means  of  doing  so,  and  he  accordingly  lends  him 
money  when  he  requires  to  add  to  his  stock  of  instruments,  that 
is  to  buy,  and  receives  money  from  him  again,  when  he  transfers 
instruments  to  others,  that  is,  when  he  effects  sales.  Every  person 
ensatred  in  business  doins;  the  same,  the  banker  is  the  general 
lender,  and  receiver  of  the  society. 

The  mechanism  of  banking  is  managed  in  two  ways.  The 
one  is  by  discounting  bills,  that  is  by  giving  money  immediately, 
for  the  obligations  by  which  one  man  contracts  to  pay  money  to 
another,  at  some  future  time,  deducting  a  part,  the  proportion  of 
which  is  determined  by  the  order  in  which  instruments  stand  in 
the  society,  and  by  the  length  of  the  period.     This  method  is 

24 


186  <^F  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

analogous  to  that  of  viremens,  but  far  preferable.  Thus,  an  in- 
dividual who  holds  an  obligation  by  which  another  binds  himself 
to  pay  him  the  sum  of  two  thousand  pounds  in  six  months,  were 
he  in  some  parts  of  Russia,  would  be  justifiable,  were  he  confi- 
dent of  the  solvency  of  his  debtor,  to  contract  obligations  to  that 
amount,  and  payable  at  the  same  time.  Were  he  then  desirous 
of  having  something  transferred  to  him,  of  the  value  of  two  thou-  H 
sand  pounds,  his  granting  an  obligation  to  that  amount,  and  payable 
at  six  months,  might  help  to  make  the  two  transactions  of  easy 
arrangement.  But,  supposing  that  he  were  desirous  of  having  a 
number  of  small  transfers  made  to  him,  that  he  were  to  grant  a 
proportional  number  of  obligations,  that  the  persons  to  whom  he 
granted  them  were  again  to  grant  others,  still  smaller  and  more 
numerous,  and  that  these  were  again  to  be  subdivided  and  re- 
united, it  is  evident  that  the  mass  of  affairs,  would  become  so 
complicated,  and  the  number  of  individuals  concerned  in  them 
so  large,  that  the  trouble  of  arranging  them  would  be  excessive. 
This  system  is  of  consequence,  as  has  been  already  observed, 
of  limhed  application.  But  when  an  individual  gets  a  bill  dis- 
counted, the  transfers  he  effects  with  the  bank  bills  he  receives, 
occasion  no  future  trouble  to  himself  or  others. 

The  system  of  bank  credits  is  the  second  mode,  in  which  the 
business  of  banking  is  managed.  It  is  somewhat  analogous  to 
that  carried  on,  through  the  aid  of  the  books  of  the  North  Amer- 
ican store-keeper.  The  banker  gives  the  means  of  effecting 
any  purchases  which  those  dealing  with  him  are  desirous  of 
making,  and,  when  they  sell,  gives  them  immediate  credit  for  the 
amount  they  receive.  He  is  not,  however,  like  the  store-keeper, 
urged  on,  by  the  dread  of  a  stock  of  goods  lying  on  his  hands 
too  long,  to  allow  people  to  run  accounts  with  him,  whose  credit 
is  in  any  means  doubtful.  He  is  a  dealer  simply  in  credit,  and 
it  is  bis  business,  before  giving  credit,  to  demand  such  security  as 
may  satisfy  him  that  he  can  sustain  no  loss,  and  this  being  grant- 
ed, to  afford  the  requisite  accommodation  on  reasonable  terms. 

The  advantages  which  the  banker  derives  fiom  being  the  gen- 
eral lender  of  the  community,  arise  chiefly,  from  the  peculiar 
sort  of  money  he  lends.  It  is  not  specie,  but  merely  an  obliga- 
tion to  pay  in  specie.  But  as  all  who  engage  in  business  have 
to  return  cash  to  him,  it  is  equally  good  to  them  as  specie,  and 
through   them  is   equally  well  received  among  the  other  mem- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  187 

bers  of  the  community.  Thus  the  money  of  the  banker  comes 
to  make  a  great  part,  or  nearly  the  whole,  of  the  ch'culating 
medium. 

The  benefits  which  the  society  receives  from  the  system, 
when  there  are  no  defects  in  the  conduct  of  it,  seem  to  be  three- 
fold. 

1st.  As  far  as  it  extends,  the  expense  of  the  circulating  me- 
dium, the  expense  which  men  in  business  must  otherwise  be 
put  to  by  being  obliged  to  have  a  quantity  of  cash  always  lying 
by  them  to  meet  sudden  emergencies,  is  done  away  with.  When 
a  man  wants  cash,  he  goes  to  the  bank  for  it,  when  he  has  cash, 
he  carries  it  to  the  bank.     Money  never  lies  idle. 

2d.  It  does  away  with  all  deficiency  in  the  circulating  medium. 
When  the  system  of  instruments  which  belong  to  an  individual, 
is  defective  in  any  part,  he  can  at  once  supply  the  defect,  and 
when  it  is  redundant,  he  has  no  difficulty  in  disposing  of  the 
superfluity  where  it  may  be  usefully  employed. 

3d.  It  does  both,  without  the  evils  otherwise  attendant,  on  the 
substitution  of  credit  for  coin.  The  dealings  of  men  of  prudence 
and  character,  are  not  so  mixed  up  with  those  of  improvident 
and  suspicious  persons,  as  to  make  the  one  bear  the  burden  of 
the  losses  sustained  through  the  folly  or  dishonesty  of  the  other. 
Every  instrument,  as  its  formation  is  pushed  on  by  the  industry 
of  the  members  of  the  society,  is  moved  directly  to  its  proper 
station.  It  neither  runs  the  risk  of  being  subjected  to  remain 
useless,  owing  to  the  expense  of  moving  it,  nor  of  being  mis- 
placed or  destroyed  in  the  process  of  moving  it. 

The  tendency  of  these  three  effects,  flowing  from  the  banking 
system  properly  conducted,  is  to  carry  the  instruments  subject  to 
the  operation  of  exchange,  to  orders  of  more  quick  return,  than 
they  would  otherwise  have  occupied.  The  outlay  expended  on 
them  is  not  so  great,  and  they  sooner  make  the  expected  returns. 
The  accumulative  principle  receives  in  consequence,  a  stimulus, 
that  enables  it  to  embrace  a  larger  compass  of  instruments,  and 
the  general  stock  of  the  society  is  soon  proportionally  increased. 
Greater  facility  is  also  given  to  the  division  of  employments, 
from  there  beins;  no  obstruction  to  the  additional  exchan2;es  re- 
quired,  and  new  branches  of  business  arise.  From  both  these 
circumstances,  the  number  and  am.ount  of  exchanges  increase. 

The  money  of  the  banker,  compared  with  gold  and  silver,  as 


188  OF   THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

a  medium  of  exchange,  would  thus  seem  to  be  not  only  less  ex- 
pensive, but  more  efficient.  When  the  circulating  medium  in 
any  country  is  specie,  probably  far  the  larger  portion  of  it  lies 
idle.  Every  merchant,  in  such  a  country,  has  a  quantity  of  gold 
or  silver,  proportioned  in  amount  to  the  business  he  carries  on, 
doing  actually  nothing,  but  only  waiting  to  do  whatever  may 
offer.  The  strong  boxes  of  all  the  merchants  in  the  country, 
always  hold,  therefore,  a  large  portion  of  its  capital  in  inactivity. 
In  a  country,  on  the  other  hand,  where  the  bills  of  the  banker 
form  the  circulating  medium,  the  quantity  of  money  lying  for 
any  time  idle  is  insignificant.  No  money  is  retained,  but  for  a 
specific  purpose.  In  Scotland,  for  example,  every  merchant 
places  in  the  hands  of  the  banker,  all  the  cash  for  which  he  has 
not  immediate  use. 

Were  we,  therefore,  to  confine  the  advantages  derived  from 
the  institution  of  banks,  in  any  community,  to  the  substitution  of 
a  cheap  medium,  for  a  dear  one,  we  should  make  an  imperfect 
estimate  of  them.  If,  for  instance,  the  circulating  medium  in 
any  country  be  one  million  in  coin,  and  if  that  be  superseded  by 
paper,  should  the  quantity  of  paper  in  circulation  be  found  to 
amount  also,  to  one  million,  it  would  indicate  a  great  increase  in 
the  transfers  effected,  and  would  show,  either  that  a  larger  com- 
pass of  materials  had  been  brought  within  reach  of  the  accumu- 
lative principle,  or  that  employments  had  been  more  subdivided, 
or  that  both  these  circumstances  had  occurred. 

From  the  same  causes,  the  effects  of  a  recurrence  to  a  metallic 
currency,  and  the  compulsory  substitution  of  one  million  of 
specie,  for  one  of  paper,  would  be  far  from  being  limited  to  the 
expense  of  the  bullion  employed  in  the  operation.  It  would, 
besides  this,  render  impracticable  a  multitude  of  transfers,  that 
might  otherwise  have  taken  place,  disorganize  the  whole  system 
of  exchange,  place  the  stock  of  the  society  in  orders  of  slower 
return,  and  put  a  mass  of  materials,  which  the  accumulative 
principle  had  before  been  able  to  grasp,  beyond  its  reach. 

The  extent  to  which  the  banking  system  may,  in  any  country 
be  carried,  seems  to  depend  on  four  circumstances. 

1st.  The  amount  of  the  science,  skill,  and  population  existing 
in  the  country,  to  work  up  the  materials  it  affords,  and  the 
abundance  of  these  materials. 

2d.  The  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle,  the  oppor- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  jgg 

tunity  it  has  had  to  operate,  and  consequent  division  of  employ- 
ments, approach  of  instruments  to  the  more  slowly  returning 
orders,  and  accuaiulation  of  stock.  These  two  circumstances 
determine  the  amount  of  the  possible  exchanges,  and,  conse- 
quendy,  of  the  money  that  may  be  employed  in  effecting  them. 

3d.  The  general  intelligence,  sagacity,  and  integrity  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  community.  A  person  greatly  deficient  in  any  of  these 
respects,  is  one  with  whom  a  banker  would  not  wish  to  deal.  But, 
these  qualities  are  of  those  giving  strength  to  the  effective  desire  of 
accumulation ;  this  circumstance,  therefore,  may  be  considered 
as  merging  in  the  last,  the  general  strength  of  the  accumulative 
principle. 

4th.  The  efficiency  and  security  of  the  system  of  banking 
adopted. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  bankins:, 
in  proportion  to  its  extent,  would  seem  to  be  greater,  the  nearer 
instruments  are  to  the  more  quickly  returning  orders,  and  the 
greater  consequently  the  scarcity  of  specie.  Where,  therefore, 
the  accumulative  principle  being  strong,  and  from  the  implied 
intelligence,  and  honesty  of  the  community,  the  system  of  bank- 
ing extensively  practicable,  but  from  want  of  time  to  work  up 
materials  to  more  slowly  returning  orders,  instruments  are  at  those 
of  quicker  return,  there  the  operations  of  the  banker  are  pecu- 
liarly beneficial. 

We  have,  perhaps,  sufficiently  enlarged  already,  on  the  three 
first  of  the  circumstances  referred  to.  It  only  remains,  to  show  the 
chief  points  of  connexion  of  the  last  of  them,  with  the  princi- 
ples it  has  been  attempted  to  explain.  To  do  so,  it  is  necessary 
to  refer  to  the  occasional  evils  resulting  from  the  system  of  bank- 
ing, diminishing  its  general  utility.  They  may  be  reduced  to 
two. 

1st.  The  money  which  bankers  circulate,  must  be  the  repre- 
sentative of  real  property.  It  must  be  exchangeable  for  some 
commodity,  or  commodities,  equal  to  the  amount  at  which  it  is 
rated.  If  it  may  be  always  exchanged  for  specie,  or  for  some 
proportion  of  the  general  revenue  abstracted  for  the  purposes  of 
government,  it  will  be  a  representative  of  something  real.  But 
it  sometimes  happens  that  bankers  squander,  or  waste,  the  funds 
provided  for  payment  of  the  demands  to  which  they  are  liable, 
and  this  being  discoveredj  their  money  becomes  valueless,  and  those 


190  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

holding  it  as  an  equivalent  to  capital,  sustain  loss  to  the  amount 
they  hold.  The  loss  thus  sustained,  both  in  itself,  and  in  the 
general  diminution  of  confidence  in  banking  transactions  and  re- 
tardation of  exchanges  consequent  on  it,  makes  it  a  matter  of 
great  importance  to  every  mercantile  community,  to  have  banks 
of  indubitable  solvency  established  throughout  it.  It  were  be- 
yond the  present  purpose,  to  inquire  into  the  particular  system  and 
regulations  that  may  best  produce  such  a  result.  There  are, 
however,  tvi^o  general  observations,  arising  from  the  nature  of 
things,  which  naturally  present  themselves. 

When  capital  is  largely  accumulated,  and  at  orders  of  slow 
return,  there  will  be  very  many,  who  will  be  disposed  to  allow 
their  funds  to  remain  in  that  employment,  and  be  content  with 
the  moderate  revenue  thus  produced  to  them.  When,  on  the 
other  hand,  they  are  at  orders  of  quicker  return,  there  is  a  great 
temptation  to  divert  the  fund,  set  apart  for  these  purposes,  to 
speculations  promising  great  gain,  but  sometimes  producing  great 
loss.  Banking  will  consequently  be  in  general  safest,  where 
capital  is  most  largely  accumulated. 

Again,  as  no  possible  precaution  can  prevent  a  company  of 
bankers  from  acting  dishonestly,  who  are  wiUing  to  combine  for 
such  a  purpose,  for  they  can  only  be  required  to  produce  state- 
ments drawn  up  by  themselves,  where  there  exists  a  great  defi- 
ciency of  real  principle,  and  a  proneness  to  defraud,  banking 
becomes  dangerous  or  impracticable. 

2d.  The  second  evil  arising  from  the  practice  of  banking, 
has  its  origin,  in  the  system  of  credit  itself;  and  the  shock  which, 
as  it  is  founded  on  prevailing  opinion,  it  is  liable  to  receive  from 
whatever  shakes  public  confidence. 

Every  person  engaged  in  the  formation  and  transfer  of  com- 
modities, and  adopting  the  system  of  credit  as  the  medium  of 
transfer,  is  indebted  to  some  individuals,  as,  in  turn,  other  indi- 
viduals are  indebted  to  him.  The  stock  also  of  instruments  he 
has  on  hand,  allows  him  to  offer  a  certain  amount  of  commodities 
for  sale,  and  requires  him,  if  he  continue  his  business  on  the 
same  footing,  to  purchase  certain  other  commodities,  and  pay  for 
certain  amounts  of  labor.  What  is  owing  him,  and  payable 
within  a  given  time,  may  exceed  what  he  owes  others,  payable 
within  the  same  time,  or  may  equal  it,  or  come  short  of  it. 
What  he  is  able  to  sell  others  within  a  given  time,  may  also  ex- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  IQl 

ceed  what  he  requires  to  buy  within  the  same  time,  or  may  be 
equal  to,  or  less  than  it.     It  will  always  be   the  case,  too,  that 
individuals  will  look  forward  for  the   means  of  dischariring  the 
debts  they  have  contracted,  not  only  to   the  debts  owing   them 
by  others,  but  to  the  sales  they  expect  to   effect.     Were   this 
to  happen  only  to  persons  of  really  abundant  capital,  there  would 
be  no  reason  to  fear  the  non-performance  of  engagements  con- 
tracted.    But  it  also  happens  to  those,  whose  capitals  have  been 
reduced   by  misfortune    or   imprudence,    and    therefore,    there 
are  always  many  in  every  mercantile  community,  whose  ability 
to  discharge  their  oblisations   is  more  or  less   doubtful.     When, 
therefore,   any  cause   operating   extensively,  and    prejudicially, 
on  mercantile  transactions  occurs,  it  generally  happens,  that  there 
arise  cases  of  incapacity    to  meet   engagements,   and,    as    one 
man  depends   for  the   means  of  discharging  his   debts,   on  the 
debts  others  owe   him,  that  embarrassment  and  distress   spread 
throughout  the  whole  mercantile  body.     The  experience  of  the 
misfortunes  attending  this  state  of  things,  leads   every  one  en- 
gaged in  business,  when  he  thinks  there   is  reason  to  fear  its 
approach,  to  endeavor  to  withdraw  himself  from  the  danger,  by 
avoiding  to  contract  obligations  to  pay.     There  is  consequently 
a  general  diminution  of  purchases,  and  a  general  temporary  fall 
in  prices.* 

But  while  prudent  people  are  thus  able  to  secure  themselves 
from  evil,  they  increase  the  difficulties  of  those,  who  have  con- 
tracted obligations  to  pay,  in  dependence  on  the  proceeds  of  sales 
to  be  effected ;  and  some  of  these  becoming  incapable  of  ob- 
tainintr  the  means  of  meetino-  their  engagements,  their  failure 
increases  the  general  distress,  and  farther  lessens  the  number  in- 
dined  to  purchase. 

At  this  conjuncture,  the  affairs  of  the  banker  undergo  a  revo- 
lution. For,  as  the  number  of  buyers  diminishes,  there  is  less 
money  requisite  for  transacting  the  business  of  the  community, 
and  this  overplus  naturally  returns  on  him.     But  while  less  money 

*  Market  price,  which  is  fluctuating,  is  here  spoken  of.  What  is  termed 
the  natural  price  of  things,  or  their  general  average  price,  is  that  alone  treated 
of  in  other  parts  of  this  inquiry,  it  being  only  the  permanent  causes  affecting 
the  increase  and  diminution  of  stock,  that  it  was  proposed  to  investigate. 
On  this  account,  the  view  here  given  of  phenomena  resulting  in  a  great 
measure  from  the  operation  of  temporary  causes,  is  somewhat  confined  and 
imperfect. 


192  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

is  really  wanted  to  execute  the  business  of  the  society,  he  is 
called  on  to  furnish  as  much,  or  probably  more.  The  debts  those 
dealing  with  him  formerly  contracted  have  to  be  paid,  while  the 
sales  of  commodities,  the  means  by  which  it  was  anticipated  that 
part  of  the  funds  for  that  payment,  would  be  procured,  have 
much  diminished. 

The  situation  of  the  banker  becomes  therefore  at  this  crisis, 
very  critical.  He  cannot,  in  justice  to  himself,  grant  all  the  re- 
quisite accommodation,  and  yet,  his  refraining  from  doing  so  must 
aggravate  existing  evils.  As  specie  is,  in  such  a  state  of  things, 
the  most  desirable  of  commodities,  he  has  reason  to  fear  that  a 
large  portion  of  his  money  will  be  returned  on  him,  which  he  will 
be  required  to  replace  with  gold  or  silver,  and  he  knows  that  if 
a  suspicion  of  his  solvency  arise,  he  may  be  required  thus  to 
replace  the  whole  of  it.  If  he  be  unable  to  meet  these  diffi- 
culties, his  failure  adds  very  much  to  the  general  mass  of  misfor- 
tune, and  farther  diminishes  public  confidence. 

The  natural  termination  to  such  a  state  of  things,  would  seem 
to  be  the  diminution  of  contracts,  and  consequently  of  debts, 
progressively  diminishing  the  amount  of  payments,  for  which  it 
is  necessary  to  provide.  This  termination  is  retarded  by  the 
struggles  of  those  whose  real  funds,  in  proportion  to  the  extent 
of  their  business,  are  smallest,  and  whose  motives  to  engage  in 
fresh  transactions,  are  chiefly  the  hopes  of  extricating  themselves 
from  the  embarrassments  in  which  present  transactions  have  in- 
volved them.  It  is  also  more  injuriously  retarded,  as  has  been 
observed,  by  the  failure  of  those  engaged  in  the  business  of 
banking. 

The  liability  of  the  mercantile  community  to  be  largely  affect- 
ed by  such  sudden  pressures,  must  depend,  in  a  great  degree,  on 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  country,  and  nature  of  the 
employments  and  trades  carried  on  in  it. 

It  must  also  be  dependent  on  the  system  of  banking,  that  is 
there  pursued,  and  its  capacity  to  furnish  funds  where  there  is 
real  capital ;  to  check  unsafe  and  gambling  transactions  by  with- 
holding funds  from  those  desirous  of  extending  hazardous  specu- 
lations, though  deficient  in  capital ;  and  to  pursue  its  operations 
steadily  and  confidently  notwithstanding  any  general  embarrass- 
ment. To  attempt,  however,  an  enumeration  and  comparison 
of  the  different  systems  of  transacting  the  business  of  banking. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  193 

which  have  been  adopted  in  different  times  and  places,  would 
involve  us  in  inquiries  of  so  complicated  a  nature,  that  while  to 
discuss  them  partially  would  be  unsatisfactory,  to  do  so  fully 
would  lead  too  far  from  our  present  object.  I  reserve  therefore 
the  few  observations  I  have  to  make  on  the  subject,  to  another 
place. "* 

Gold  and  silver  would  thus  seem  to  have  been  considered, 
first,  simply  as  tliemselves  the  most  precious,  and  easily  preserv- 
ed of  all  articles  ;  next,  their  capacity  for  being  divided  and 
re-united  without  injury,  would  seem  to  have  led  to  their  general 
employment  in  exchange  for  other  things  the  acquisition  of 
which  their  possessors  found  useful  or  necessary  :f  convenience 
then  to  have  rendered  it  expedient  to  have  them  formed  into 
pieces  of  a  certain  weight,  and  fineness,  when  they  began  to  con- 
stitute what  is  now  called  money  ;  lastly,  their  general  adoption  as 
money  would  seem  naturally  to  have  rendered  them  proper 
measures  to  give  fixedness  to  those  obligations  to  future  delivery 
of  things  in  exchange,  which  the  increased  security  and  tranquil- 
lity of  modern  times,  and  the  great  amount  of  exchanges  trans- 
acted, have  in  recent  days,  introduced.  In  the  two  latter  em- 
ployments, as  serving  for  real,  or  determining  the  rights  which 
the  possession  of  fictitious  money  conveys,  they  occasionally 
serve  as  media  for  exchanging  all  instruments,  and,  therefore, 
for  determining  and  expressing  their  relation  to  each  other,  as 
things  capable  of  being  exchanged.  In  this  way  measuring  all 
things  exchanged,  or  capable  of  being  exchanged,  that  is,  all  in- 
struments, they  come  to  denote  the  amount  of  instruments,  or 
capital,  or  stock,  Avhich  any  man  possesses.  A  person  is  said  to 
be  worth  five  hundred,  or  five  thousand  pounds,  as  he  has  in- 
struments, which,  in  exchange,  would  be  measured  by  these  sums 
respectively ;  and,  as  in  common  life  all  things  are  considered, 
not  as  they  are,  but  merely  in  their  actions  and  relations,  instru- 
ments come  there,  also,  to  be  spoken  about,  and  conceived  of, 
altogether  in  the  relation  they  have  to  certain  pieces  of  gold 
and  silver. 

These  are  not  the  only  effects  which  the  exchange  of  instru- 

*  See  Note  G. 

t  Thus  the  Knight  parted  with  a  linii   or  two  of  his  gold  chain,  when  in 
need,  and  in  more  ancient  times  the  traveller  carried  his  bag  of  gold  dust. 

25 


194  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

ments  for  one  another,  and  the  consequent  use  of  money  as  the 
medium  of  exchange,  have  produced  in  our  conceptions  of  them. 
The  system  of  exchanges,  being  attended  by  that  of  credit, 
imphes  the  existence  of  some  mode  of  ascertaining  the  amount 
to  be  rendered  back,  for  instruments  received  in  trust.  It  is 
sufficiently  obvious  that  this  must  be  determined  by  the  oi'der  to 
which  the  principle  of  accumulation,  and  the  time  it  has  had  to 
operate,  has  carried  tlie  formation  of  instruments  in  the  society. 
If,  in  any  society,  instruments  are  at  the  order  D,  doubling  in 
four  years,  then  one  receiving  an  instrument  on  trust,  for  four 
years,  will,  at  the  end  of  that  period,  have  to  return  two  of  the 
same  sort  and  quality.  If  they  are  at  the  order  E,  he  will  have 
to  return  two  at  the  end  of  five  years,  &.c.  Thus  it  is  a  com- 
mon practice  in  many  parts  of  North  America,  especially  in  new 
settlements,  to  sell  cattle  and  sheep  on  trust,  the  terms  being 
that  double  the  number  thus  transferred,  is  to  be  returned  in  four 
or  five  years,  as  the  agreement  may  be  made.  More  generally, 
however,  much  shorter  periods  are  adopted,  for  the  settlement  of 
accounts.  The  natural  periods  of  a  year,  and  a  month,  have  in 
different  times  and  places,  been  made  choice  of  for  this  purpose. 
It  is  then  necessary  to  calculate  what  is  due,  by  the  one  party 
to  the  other  at  these  periods,  and  these  calculations  are  naturally 
made  in  money. 

Instead,  for  instance,  of  returning  two  cows  at  the  end  of  five 
years,  the  bargain  may  be,  that  a  proportional  sum  is  to  be  paid 
at  the  end  of  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  years. 
Were  money  paid  for  the  cow  immediately,  the  amount  we  shall 
say  would  be  twenty  dollars,  the  double  of  that,  which  would 
be  the  sum  to  be  given  were  the  time  of  payment  deferred  till 
the  expiration  of  five  years,  is  forty  dollars.  The  annual  pay- 
ment can  neither  be  a  fifth  part  of  the  one  sum,  four  dollars,  nor 
of  the  other  eight  dollars,  but  one  between  the  two,  in  this  case 
about  six  dollars.  Again,  the  bargain  may  be,  that  a  cow  be 
returned,  at  the  expiration  of  the  fifth  year,  and  that,  for  her  use 
during  that  time,  an  annual  remuneration  be  made  ;  this  would 
be  a  half  of  the  former  annual  payment,  nearly  three  dollars, 
and  that  sum  accordingly,  when  such  an  arrangement  takes  place, 
is  the  usual  yearly  payment,  for  what  is  called  the  rent  of  the  cow. 
Whatever  order  instruments  may  be  at,  some  similar  calculation 
might  determine,  what  should  be  the  proportion  annually  paid 


c 

26 

D 

19 

E 

15 

F 

12 

H  9  per  cent. 

per  ann. 

I   8        " 

J    7        « 

K6,  5   « 

L  5,  9  " 

M  5,  5   " 

N5        " 

"     & 

OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  195 

for  the  use  of  any  of  them.  The  employment  of  money  in  these 
calculations  has  simplified  them,  by  the  introduction  of  general 
rules.  The  return  which  instruments  make,  is  estimated  at  so 
much  in  the  hundred,  or  per  cent,  that  is,  in  the  hundred  pounds, 
dollars  or  whatever  may  be  the  current  coin.  Reducing  our 
orders  to  this  phraseology,  they  w^ould  be  respectively  :  — 

A  100  per  cent,  per  ann. 
B  41         «  « 

((  (( 

(C  (( 

i(  <e 

G  10         "  " 

It  is  on  these  principles,  that  all  reckonings  are  made,  not  only 
of  instruments  given  on  credit,  but  of  those  retained.  In  the 
latter  case,  the  annual  return  is  termed  profits  of  stock,  in  the 
former  interest.  There  is,  however,  this  difference  between  the 
two,  that,  in  the  profits  of  stock,  is  generally  included  the  return 
that  has  to  be  made,  for  the  menial  exertion  and  anxiety,  and 
bodily  fatigue,  of  the  owner  of  the  stock.  There  is,  also,  a 
difference  between  them,  in  common  language,  arising  from  its 
being  the  practice  to  speak  of  the  more  favorable  issues  of  in- 
struments, as  determining  the  rate,  without  reckoning  those  that 
have  turned  out  less  favorably,  or  unfortunately.  Thus  Adam 
Smith  :  "  In  a  country  where  the  ordinary  rate  of  clear  profit 
is  eight  or  ten  per  cent,  it  may  be  reasonable  that  one  half  of  it 
should  go  to  interest,  wherever  business  is  carried  on  with  bor- 
rowed money.  The  stock  is  at  the  risk  of  the  borrower,  who, 
as  it  were,  insures  it  to  the  lender;  and  four  or  five  per  cent, 
may,  in  the  greater  part  of  trades,  be  both  a  sufficient  profit 
upon  the  risk  of  this  insurance,  and  a  sufficient  recompense  for 
the  trouble  of  employing  the  stock."*  Here,  ordinary  profit 
evidently  means,  not  the  average  profit,  but  the  profit  of  favora- 
ble years.  The  average  profit  of  a  merchant,  for  example,  is 
not  properly  the  profit  he  makes  upon  his  more  favorable  adven- 
tures, but  what  he  makes  on  all  those  adventures  that  yield  a  profit, 
whether  great  or  small,  after  deducting  the  actual  loss  he  may  sus- 
tain on  others.     The  average  profits  of  all  the  merchants  of  any 

"  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  I.  c.  III. 


196         ,   OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

country,  also  include  their  very  favorable,  their  less  favorable,  and 
their  losing  adventures.  In  this  way,  using  the  term  profit,  for  the 
return  made  from  the  outlay  expended  on  the  formation  of  the 
whole  instruments  spoken  of,  actual  losses  are  also  included  in 
it,  and,  in  speaking  prospectively  of  future  profit,  the  risk  of 
future  loss  is  included,  and  what  Adam  Smith  calls  the  risk  of 
insurance  disappears.  If  in  a  country  where  the  average  profit  is, 
in  reahty,  only  eight  per  cent,  a  particular  merchant  continue 
for  some  years,  to  make  ten  per  cent,  he  may  indeed  expect, 
and  is  perhaps  apt  to  expect,  the  same  return  in  future  years, 
but,  unless  in  so  far  as  he  can  truly  calculate  on  his  mercantile 
sagacity  and  activity  being  above  par,  in  so  doing,  he  acts  im- 
prudently, and  the  chances  are,  that  he  is  undeceived  by  having 
to  sustain  actual  losses  in  succeeding  years. 

We  may  then  assume  the  rate  of  interest  as  a  fair  measure  of 
the  real  average  rate  of  profits,  in  any  country,  and  consequently 
of  the  order  in  our  series,  at  which  instruments  are  there  arrived. 
So  receiving  it,  we  shall  find  that  it  agrees  very  closely  with  the 
preceding  observations. 

In  China,  we  are  told  by  Barrow,  that  the  legal  rate  of  inter- 
est is  twelve  per  cent.,  but  that,  in  reality,  it  varies  from  eighteen 
to  thirty-six.  The  remarks  of  other  authors  agree  pretty  accu- 
rately with  this  statement,  fixing  the  orders  at  C  or  D.  The 
Dutch  seem,  of  all  European  nations,  hitherto  to  have  been  in- 
clined to  carry  instruments  to  the  most  slowly  returning  orders. 
The  durability  given  to  all  the  instruments  constructed  by  them, 
the  care  with  which  they  are  finished,  and  the  attention  paid 
to  preserving  and  repairing  them,  have  been  often  noticed  by 
travellers.  In  the  days  when  their  industry  and  frugality  were 
most  remarkable,  interest  was  very  low,  government  borrowing 
at  two  per  cent,  and  private  people  at  three.*  The  former  in- 
dicating an  order  doubling  in  about  thirty-three  years,  the  latter 
one  doubling  in  twenty-three  years.  In  ancient  Rome,  interest 
was  in  reahty  exceedingly  high,  from  twelve  to  fifty  per  cent.f 
Were  we  farther  to  compare  the  orders  in  which  instruments 
appear  to  stand  in  other  countries,  with  the  rate  of  interest  in 
those  countries,  we  should  find  the  two  every  where  correspond- 

*  Wealth  of  Nations. 

t  Histoire  de   I'usure  par  Boucher  Paris  1819.  p.  25.     Tlie  laws  against 
usury,  there,  as  elsewhere,  increased,  instead  of  diminishing  the  evil. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.   .         197 

ent.  I  apprehend,  however,  that  this  is  needless,  for,  as  the 
reader  must  on  consideration  perceive,  it  is  impossible  it  can  be 
otherwise.  Loans,  indeed,  pass  under  the  name  of  money,  but 
money  is  only  the  means  of  effecting  the  loan,  it  is  in  reality  in- 
struments that  are  lent,  and  they  must  in  return  yield  not  much 
less  than  what  is  paid  for  their  use,  otherwise  they  would  not  be 
borrowed,  and  not  much  more,  otherwise  they  would  not  be 
lent. 

The  system  of  calculation,  the  foundation  of  which  we  have 
been  considering  as  connected  with  exchanges,  is  convenient  for 
all  engaged  in  the  business  of  transfers,  and  answers  their  pur- 
poses very  perfectly.  When  applied,  however,  to  speculative 
purposes,  it  labors  under  the  disadvantage  to  which  all  practical 
general  rules  are  liable,  when  assumed  as  speculative  general 
principles.  According  to  it,  stock  is  regarded  altogether,  as 
measured  by  money,  and  an  amount  of  stock  is  considered,  simply, 
as  an  amount  of  money,  or  something  that  will  bring  money. 
The  stocks,  therefore,  of  different  countries,  are  viewed  as  differ- 
ing merely  in  amount,  and  every  increase  and  diminution  of  the 
stock,  of  the  same  country,  as  a  simple  addition,  or  substraction, 
of  an  homogeneous  quantity.  These  events  being  so  viewed, 
have  been  assumed  so  to  exist,  and  the  general  increase  and 
diminution  of  stock,  have  been  treated  of,  as  things,  as  simple 
in  their  nature,  as  the  rows  of  digits  employed  to  mark  the 
amount  of  money  by  which  they  are  estimated.  Some  of  the 
fallacies  hence  arising,  will  be  presently  noted ;  they  will,  I  believe, 
be  found  to  be  the  foundation  of  much  of  the  contradictions,  in 
which  the  reasonings  on  these  subjects  are  involved. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


OF  THE  EFFECTS  RESULTrNG  FROM  DIVERSITIES  OP  STRENGTH  IN  THE  AC- 
CUMULATIVE PRINCIPLE,  IN  MEMBERS  OF  THE  SAME  SOCIETY. 

The  mass  of  the  individuals  composing  any  society,  being 
operated  on  by  the  same  causes,  and  having  similar  manners, 
habits,  and  to  a  great  extent  feelings  also,  must  approximate  to 
each  other,  in  the  strength  of  their  effective  desires  of  accumu- 
lation. In  the  view  we  have  hitherto  taken  of  the  subject,  we 
have  considered  them,  as  not  only  approximating,  but  coinciding 
in  this  respect.  In  reality,  however,  they  do  not  do  so.  Though 
the  desire  may  be  generally  of  nearly  equal  strength,  throughout 
the  bulk  of  the  society,  it  cannot  altogether  be  so,  but  must  vary, 
in  some,  in  degrees  scarcely  perceptible,  in  others,  as  in  every 
community  there  will  be  men  of  characters  opposite  to  their 
fellows,  very  largely.  But  there  are  nevertheless  circumstances, 
which,  notwithstanding  these  variations,  restrain  and  confine  the 
construction  of  instruments,  either  altogether  to  the  same  order, 
or  to  orders  much  more  nearly  approximating  to  each  other,  tlian 
vv'ould  be  indicated  by  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of 
accumulation,  in  the  individuals  forming  them. 

The  accumulative  principle  of  the  different  individuals  com- 
posing the  same  society,  may  vary  from  the  average  strength, 
either  by  being  above,  or  below  it.  '  There  will,  in  every  society, 
be  some  individuals  not  disposed  to  construct  any  instruments, 
but  such  as  are  of  orders  of  more  quick  return  than  those  gen- 
erally formed,  as  there  will  be  others,  disposed,  if  they  have  no 
opportunity  otherwise  to  make  additional  provision  for  futurity, 
to  expend  part  of  their  revenue  in  working  up  materials  even  to 
orders  of  slower  return,  than  the  average  of  the  instruments 
already  formed. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  199 

Persons  of  the  former  class,  possessing  any  amount  of  funds 
presently  available,  would  be  inclined  to  apply  them  to  the  for- 
mation of  instruments,  could  they  obtain  materials,  returning  so 
largely  as  to  correspond  to  the  estimate  they  make  of  the  future 
and  the  present.  But  they  will  not  be  able  to  find  any  such 
materials,  for  they  will  have  been  previously  appropriated,  and 
wrought  up  more  laboriously  than  they  would  be  inclined  to  do, 
by  other  members  of  the  society.  If,  again,  the  funds  of  an 
individual  of  this  class,  consists  of  instruments  whose  returns  are 
future,  he  will  gradually  transfer  them  to  other  members  of  the 
society,  whose  accumulative  principle  is  stronger  than  his  own; 
for,  according  to  his  estimate  of  the  future  and  the  present,  he 
will  receive  more  for  them  than  they  are  worth.  It  thus  happens, 
that  all  the  members  of  any  society,  wdiose  accumulative  princi- 
ple is  lower  than  the  average,  are  gradually  reduced  to  poverty. 
The  same  persons,  moving  to  a  community  where  instruments 
were  of  orders  of  quicker  return  than  those  correspondent  to  the 
strength  of  their  own  accumulative  principle,  would  acquire  pro- 
perty. Thus  the  artisan,  or  laborer,  who,  in  England,  never 
thought  of  saving,  is  excited  to  accumulate  property,  in  North 
America.  The  Chinese,  who,  in  Europe,  would  be  very  pro- 
digals, are  accounted  frugal  in  the  tropical  regious  of  Asia,  and 
there  attain  to  considerable  wealth. 

Individuals  whose  accumulative  principle,  is,  on  the  other  hand, 
stronger  than  the  other  members  of  the  community,  would  be 
inclined  to  construct  instruments  of  orders  returning  more  slowly 
than  usual,  rather  than  not  devote  a  part  of  their  present  funds 
to  additional  provision  for  futurity.  But  this  is  not  necessary. 
They  are  the  natural  recipients  of  the  funds  passing  from  the 
hands  of  the  prodigal,  and  their  excess  of  providence,  balances 
his  defect,  and  maintains  the  whole  mass  of  instruments  in  the 
society,  at  nearly  the  same  orders. 

It  thus  happens,  that  all  instruments  capable  of  transfer,  are 
in  the  same  society,  at  nearly  the  same  orders.  Some  instru- 
ments, however,  cannot  be  transferred,  for  many  of  them  that 
are  of  gradual  exhaustion,  and  directly  supply  wants,  must  belong 
to  the  persons  exhausting  them.  Wearing  apparel,  household 
furniture,  and  sometimes  dwelling-houses,  cannot  be  the  pro- 
perty of  any  other  individuals  than  those  in  whose  service  they 


200  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

are  exhausted.  Such  instruments  must  often,  therefore,  corres- 
pond to  the  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  of  their  pos- 
sessors. If  they  belong  to  persons  in  whom  the  strength  of 
this  principle  is  greater  than  the  average  of  the  society,  they  will 
not  indeed  vary  much  from  the  prevailing  orders,  the  surplus 
funds  of  such  individuals,  going,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  acqui- 
sition of  the  stock  of  the  prodigal.  The  difference  is  probably 
just  sufficient  to  indicate  the  character  of  their  owners.  Tiius, 
if  we  inspect  the  dwelling-houses  and  furniture  of  rigid  econo- 
mists, we  generally  perceive  that  they  have  an  air  both  of 
durability  and  efficiency,  distinguishing  them  from  those  of  the 
rest  of  the  community. 

When,  again,  individuals,  in  whom  the  strength  of  the  effective 
desire  of  accumulation  is  below  the  average  of  the  society,  have  no 
other  stock  but  what  is  embodied  in  instruments  of  this  sort,  these 
instruments,  in  their  exhaustion  of  them,  will  correspond  to  the 
weaker  power  of  this  principle.  Such,  unfortunately,  is  sometimes 
the  case,  with  what  are  termed  the  lower  classes  of  society  ;  causes 
to  which  we  shall  afterwards  advert,  sometimes  generate  a  spirit  of 
improvidence  among  these  classes,  and  diminishing  the  estimation 
in  which  they  hold  the  interests  of  futurity,  incapacitate  them 
from  expending  any  present  funds,  as  a  provision  for  these  inter- 
ests, if  they  do  not  return  either  very  speedily,  or  very  largely. 
The  consequence  is,  that  the  instruments  of  this  sort  which  they 
possess,  have  but  a  very  small  capacity  for  the  supply  of  their 
coming  needs,  and  that  they  are  unable  to  extricate  themselves 
from  pressing  poverty. 

Thus,  suppose  that  a  man  in  this  class,  has  tvi^o  different  bats 
offered  him,  the  present  appearance,  and  immediate  comfort  in 
the  wear  of  which  are  nearly  equal,  but  of  which  the  one,  from 
its  being  formed  of  better  materials,  and  these  wrought  up  with 
more  care,  is  much  more  durable  than  the  other,  and  cannot  be 
afforded  but  at  a  higher  price  than  it.  Let  it  be  that  four  days' 
labor  is  demanded  for  the  one,  and  six  and  a  half  for  the  other, 
but  that  the  former  will  last  only  one  year,  the  latter  two.  It  is 
evident,  that,  if  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  of  the  indi- 
vidual is  very  weak,  not  carrying  him  beyond  the  order  A,  he 
will  prefer  the  former,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  year  will 
consequently  have  to  expend  again  an  equivalent  to  four  days' 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  gQi 

labor,  instead  of  having  this  want  supplied  by  a  previous  ex- 
penditure of  two  and  a  half  days'  labor.* 

We  may,  in  most  cases,  judge  very  accurately  of  the  strength 
of  this  principle  among  individuals  of  this  order  of  society,  pea- 
sants, mechanics,  day-laborers,  and  domestic  servants,  by  the 
qualities  of  the  instruments  of  these  sorts  with  which  they  pro- 
vide themselves.  By  observing,  for  example,  the  kind  of  shoes, 
gowns,  blankets,  which  a  woman  in  this  rank  of  life  purchases, 
one  may  form  a  near  guess  of  her  character.  Were  she  to 
make  a  point  of  selecting  such  as  would  wear  well,  though  some- 
what dearer,  or  less  showy,  we  might  safely  conclude  that  the 
influence  of  the  present,  did  not  prevent  the  interests  of  the  future 
from  being  carefully  regarded.  On  the  contrary,  did  she  choose 
the  unsubstantial,  but  more  showy,  or  cheaper  article,  we  might 
with  equal  certainty  infer,  that  the  present,  in  her  estimation,  far 
outweighed  the  future.  All  who  have  had  opportunities  of 
making  such  observations,  must  have  remarked  the  influence, 
which  the  one  line  of  conduct,  or  the  other,  exercises  on  such 
individuals.  The  difference  between  them  constitutes  the  main 
distinction  between  thrift,  and  unthrift,  the  former  of  wdiich  is 
the  only  safe  means,  that  persons  in  the  lower  walks  of  life 
possess,  through  which  they  may  give  a  beginning  to  their  for- 
tunes. The  store  accumulated  by  the  exercise  of  the  virtue 
of  providence,  which,  as  it  shows  itself  in  them,  we  thus  denom- 
inate, enables  them  to  turn  the  funds  of  their  daily  labor  to  the 
construction  of  other  instruments  than  those,  and,  at  length,  to 
add  largely  to  that  stock  which  is  destined  to  supply  the  future 
wants  of  the  whole  society.  What  is  true  concerning  one  indi- 
vidual, is  true  concerning  many,  and  on  this  account,  the  degree 
of  strength  of  this  principle  possessed  by  what  are  called  the  lower 
orders,  exercises  a  great  influence  on  the  amount  of  the  general 
stock,  accumulated  by  the  society.  The  influence,  in  this  re- 
spect, of  those  w4io  form  that  class,  is,  indeed,  much  more  im- 
portant than  we  might  at  first  suspect.  Their  greater  numbers 
would  alone  make  up  for  the  smaller  power  of  each,  but  besides 

■*  It  is  a  matter  of  indifference,  it  may  be  observed,  to  the  hat  maker,  which 
of  the  two  he  disposes  of.  Both  hats  are  to  him  instruments  for  procuring 
labor,  or  some  equivalent  to  it.  Of  all  his  stock,  it  is  only  the  qualities  of 
the  one  he  makes  choice  of  for  his  own  wear,  that  can,  in  any  degree,  indi- 
cate the  strength  of  his  own  effective  desire  of  accumulation. 

26 


202  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

the  weight  which  this  consideration  is  entitled  to,  the  amount  of 
labor  that  may,  with  advantage,  be  accumulated  by  the  mere 
working  man,  in  instruments  of  this  sort,  is,  in  reality,  very  con- 
siderable. His  dwelling  and  its  contents  may  fitly  be  considered 
as  a  store  that  he  possesses,  for  the  supply  of  the  future  wants 
of  himself  and  family,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  for  the  abridg- 
ment of  their  future  labor,  and  according  as  there  is  much  or 
little  of  this  provision  wrought  up  in  them,  will  the  one  be  sup- 
plied or  the  other  saved.  First,  the  house  itself,  as  the  place 
in  which  he  and  they  live,  and  pursue  many  of  their  various 
occupations,  will  not  yield  the  advantages  it  ought,  if  the  apart- 
ments be  not  so  roomy,  and  well  lighted,  as  neither  from  the 
closeness  of  the  atmosphere  to  induce  debility  or  disease,  nor,  from 
their  confinedness  and  obscurity,  to  cramp  and  retard  the  inmates 
in  their  several  labors. ,  Then,  according  to  the  compactness  and 
finish  that  is  given  to  the  walls  and  other  parts  will  the  inclemency 
of  the  weather  be  more  or  less  excluded,  and  a  greater  or  less 
quantity  of  fuel,  be  in  future  requisite.  The  cupboards,  where 
things  may  be  readily  put  past,  and  as  readily  found,  and  where 
they  are  preserved  from  destroying  causes  and  accidents,  the 
cooking  utensils,  the  bedding,  and  the  numerous  other  articles  of 
the  sort,  that  enter  into  the  domestic  economy  of  a  frugal  and 
industrious  family,  are  to  be  considered,  in  like  manner,  as  so 
many  means  by  which  future  labor,  or  future  expense  may  be 
prevented  or  diminished.  The  extent  of  the  saving  which  the 
provident  working  man  in  this  way  effects,  is  sometimes  very 
great.  In  a  rude,  or  imperfectly  finished  fabric,  fuel  must  be 
wasted ;  in  one  where  there  are  not  proper  conveniences  for  pre- 
serving and  cooking  food,  food  must  be  wasted  ;  and  where  there 
are  not  fit  places  for  depositing  articles  of  wearing  apparel,  they 
must  soon  get  dirty,  and  receive  much  unnecessary  damage.  In 
a  well  finished,  and  convenient  habitation,  too,  the  inmates  lose 
no  time,  either  from  torpor  in  winter's  cold,  or  languor  in  sum- 
mer's heat ;  they  have  space  and  comfort  to  pursue  their  various 
labors,  and  unless  the  periods  given  to  repose,  and  to  their  meals, 
may  employ  the  whole  time  they  spend  at  home,  in  some  useful 
or  agreeable  occupation.  The  animal  frame,  also,  it  is  to  be 
observed,  when  exposed  to  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  and 
to  damp,  seems  to  require  a  greater  supply  of  nourishment,  than 
when  properly   sheltered   and   protected.     This  is  seen  in  the 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  393 

inferior  animals,  and  agreeing  with  them  in  other  parts  of  his 
corporeal  constitution,  man  does  not  here  differ  from  them,  and 
when  comfortably  lodged,  is  preserved  in  health  and  vigor,  on  a 
diet  which  he  would  else  find  too  scanty.  The  amount  of  pro- 
vision for  future  needs,  that  may,  in  a  similar  manner,  be  embo- 
died by  a  laborer  or  mechanic  having  a  family,  in  bedding,  and 
other  furniture,  and  in  kitchen  utensils,  is  very  considerable.* 

It  is  to  be  here  observed,  that  the  prevalence  of  a  really 
economical  spirit  among  the  working  class,  implies  no  diminution 
of  the  purchases  made  by  them.  On  the  contrary,  it  being  the 
desire  of  the  laborer,  under  such  a  supposition,  to  turn  every  six- 
pense  he  can  earn,  to  some  useful  employment,  either  to  the 
acquisition  of  necessaries,  or  other  commodities,  he  must  have 
as  many  demands  on  the  capitalist  as  before.  The  change  pro- 
duced, would  be,  in  the  articles  purchased.  The  proportion  of 
those  providing  for  the  wants  of  futurity  would  increase,  that  of 
those  ministering  to  the  gratifications  of  the  present,  diminish. 

Thus,  such  a  spirit  pervading  the  working  classes  in  Great 
Britain,  at  the  present  period,  would  probably  lead  them  to 
abandon  all  delicacies  of  fare,  and  would  occasion  a  diminished 
consumption  of  alcoholic  liquors,  tea,  coffee,  silks,  expensive 
calicoes,  and  the  more  showy  articles  of  apparel.  It  would,  on 
the  other  hand,  increase  the  demand  for  the  higher  priced,  and 
more  substantial  cloths,  cottons,  blankets,  kitchen  utensils,  and 
articles  of  that  sort,  and  for  all  matters  used  in  the  construction 
of  dwelling-houses. 

Neither,  it  is  to  be  observed,  would  the  prevalence  of  a  con- 
trary spirit  among  those  orders,  and  a  proneness  to  seize  on  the 
enjoyments  of  the  present,  occasion  any  immediate  diminution 
of  their  demands  on  the  capitalist.  It  would  merely  lead  to  his 
providing  for  them  a  greater  amount  of  instruments  of  sudden 
exhaustion,  contributing  to  the  gratification  of  the  instant,  and  a 
smaller  amount  of  those  of  gradual  exhaustion,  providing  for 
the  wants  of  futurity,  and  to  his  giving  a  construction  to  the 
latter,  that  might  make  them  correspond  during  the  period  of 
their  exhaustion,  to  the   lower  degree  of  the  accumulative  prin- 


*  If  the  reader  be  skeptical  concerning  the  effects  of  a  sufficient  supply  of 
materials  and  utensils,  in  diminishing  the  expense  of  diet,  I  would  request 
him  to  read  Count  Rumford's  Essays. 


204  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

ciple  of  the  individuals  in  whose  service  they  were  to  be  exhaust- 
ed ;  such  a  circumstance,  would,  therefore,  occasion  the  production 
of  a  larger  portion  of  delicacies,  of  articles  of  nourishment,  more 
grateful  to  the  senses,  but  not  more  nutritious  or  more  whole- 
some  than  cheaper  fare,  of  fewer  substantial  articles  of  dress 
and  furniture,  and  more  of  those   that  are  flimsy  and  showy. 
The  whole  stock  of  instruments  owned  by  the  laboring  popula- 
tion, would  thus  contain  a  smaller  amount  of  the  means  of  less- 
ening future  labor,  or  expense,  as  their  effective  desire  of  accu- 
mulation diminished  in  strength.     Even  instruments  that  they  do 
not  own,  but  of  which  they  pay  for  the  use,  as  dwelling-houses, 
rented  by  them,  are   in  a  great  measure,  reduced  to  the  same 
order  as  those  which  they  would  themselves  form.     In  the  rank 
of  society  above  them,  improvidence  is  long  before  it  show  on 
the  dwelling ;  it  attacks  first  other  funds  ;  but,  as  they  have  not 
these  other  funds,  it  necessarily  shows  itself  in  the  funds  they 
have.     Thus,  if  a  family  of  improvident  habits   get  the  use  of 
the  best  finished  dwelling,  they  soon  so  damage  it,  as  to  deprive 
it  of  its  efficiency.     Some  manifestation  of  what  we  call  careless 
habits,  want,  that  is,  of  taking  thought  of  the  consequences  of 
what  one  is  doing,  breaks,  we  shall  say,  a  pane  or  two  of  glass, 
in  some  of  the  windows.     To  get  these  replaced  is  present  ex- 
pense, and  trouble  ;  demands,  perhaps,  the  doing  without  a  pot 
or  two  of  liquor,  or  some  other  immediate   enjoyment,  and  re- 
quires the  trouble  of  going  for  the  glazier,  or  acting  for  him.    An 
old  hat  or  two,  or  some  bundles  of  rags,  stuffed  into  the   holes, 
shifts  off  this  denial  of  present  pleasure,  or  ease,  to  some  other 
time,  a  time  which,  similar  habits,  while  they  render  the  arrival 
of  it  more  needful,  indefinitely  postpone,  and  the  window  that 
had  been   formed  to  exclude   wind  and  wet,  and  admit  light, 
serves,  at  last,  to  let  in  the  wet  and  wind,  and  shut  out  the  light. 
Pursue  the  effects  of  these  habits,  this  absorption  in  the  present, 
and  heedlessness  of  the  future,  as  they  show  themselves  upon 
the  plaster,  the  floor,  the  ceiling,  and   we  shall  find  them  soon 
doing  away  with  the  efficiency  of  the  whole   dwelling,  for  pro- 
curing enjoyment,  or  saving  toil,  and  reducing  it^  as  far  as  it  is  a 
provision  for  the  future  wants  of  its  inmates,  to  a  condition  little 
superior  to  that  of  the  miserable  mud  hut. 

The  presence  of  this  evil,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  is  mark- 
ed, by  the  high  rates  of  interest  given,  for  the  petty  sums  bor- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  205 

rowed  by  individuals  of  this  class.  The  increase  that  is  said  to 
have  taken  place  in  the  number  of  pawn-brokers'  shops  in  Eng- 
land, and  the  high  rate  of  interest  there  demanded,  and  given, 
by  mechanics,  for  small  loans  afforded  to  one  another,  would  seem 
to  indicate  its  presence,  to  a  degree  sufficient  to  alarm  a  lover  of 
his  country.* 

When  we  come  to  treat  of  the  causes  that  seem  the  great 
agents  in  diminishing  the  stock  owned  by  a  community,  the  mode 
in  which  the  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  is  weakened, 
and  extravagance  introduced  amons  the  lower  classes,  and  the 
effects  arising  from  these  circumstances,  will  present  themselves 
to  our  notice.  It  will  then  appear,  that  this  diversity  of  the 
orders  of  instruments  owned  throughout  a  community,  can  never 
exceed  certain  limits.  On  this  account,  and  because  the  stock 
belonging  to  the  lower  classes,  when  the  accumulative  principle 
is  much  lower  with  them  than  with  the  higher  ranks,  is  always 
inconsiderable,  the  orders  to  which  instruments  belong  in  the  same 
society,  and  the  returns  they  make,  or  the  ordinary  profits  of 
stock,  may  be  said  to  be  nearly  equal  throughout  every  com- 
munity. 

This  uniformity  in  the  orders  of  instruments,  and  in  the  returns 
made  by  them,  in  conjunction  with  the  system  of  calculation, 
by  which,  as  we  have  seen,  transactions  relating  to  the  transfer 
and  accumulation  of  capital  are  regulated,  produces  effects  on 
the  conceptions  of  the  individuals  concerned,  worthy  of  being 
noticed. 

The  rules  by  which  all  persons  regulate  their  proceedings  in 
the  construction  of  instruments,  are  drawn  from  the  returns  made 
by  them,  that  is,  the  profits  yielded  by  them.  If  an  instrument, 
or  a  series  of  instruments,  which  it  is  proposed  to  construct, 
promise  to  yield  the  usual  profits,  the  enterprise  is  undertaken, 
and,  if  it  make  the  anticipated  returns,  it  is  considered  a  profita- 
ble, or  gaining  business ;  if  it  do  not  promise  to  yield,  and  do 
not  yield  the  usual  profits,  it  is  considered  an  unprofitable,  or 
losing  business.  Probably,  too,  it  is  not  considered,  that  this 
mode  of  expression  is  correct,  only   as   relative   to  a  particular 

*  Pawn-brokers  charge,  I  believe,  about  20  per  cent.  The  combinations 
of  the  working  classes  in  societies,  or  unions,  have  lent  their  members  small 
sums,  if  I  well  remember,  at  a  rate  nearly  equal.  I  cannot,  however,  recollect 
my  authority  for  these  statements. 


206  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

society,  and  not  absolutely,  to  all  societies,  and  that  what  in  one 
country  or  time,  may  be  an  unprofitable  undertaking,  will,  with- 
out any  change  of  returns,  be  profitable  in  another  country  or 
time,  and  vice  versa. 

Thus,  suppose  an  English  land-holder,  whose  income  far  ex- 
ceeded his  outgoings,  to  be  asked  why  he  does  not  apply  his 
means  to  enclosing  and  draining  some  sea  marsh,  his  answer  pro- 
bably would  be,  it  would  not  pay.  It  would  only  yield  me  two 
per  cent,  when  finished,  and  landed  property  ought  to  yield  four, 
I  can  always  find  estates  to  purchase,  which  will  produce  that. 
Ask  him,  why,  instead  of  stone  fences  round  his  fields,  which 
decay,  or  hedges,  which  require  constant  trimming  and  dressing, 
he  does  not  put  iron  railings,  he  will  give  the  same  answer,  "  it 
would  not  pay."  Ask  the  house-builder,  why  this  is  not  cut 
stone,  instead  of  brick,  that  oak  instead  of  pine,  this  again  iron, 
instead  of  oak,  or  that  copper  instead  of  iron,  and  consequently 
the  whole  fabric  doubly  durable,  he  also  will  reply  "  it  will  not 
pay."  In  all  these  cases,  and  a  thousand  others  that  might  be 
put,  the  answer  is  abundantly  sufficient  as  regards  the  individual, 
but  is  no  answer  at  all  as  regards  the  society.  The  only  answer 
that  can  be  given,  in  old  countries  at  least,  for  such  or  similar 
neglect  of  materials,  is,  that  there,  the  effective  desire  of  accu- 
mulation is  not  sufficiently  strong,  to  reach  them,  in  the  present 
state  of  science  and  art.  Were  there  fewer  prodigal  land-holders, 
in  England,  estates  could  not  be  so  easily  got,  and  part  of  the 
funds  of  those  who  buy  estates,  w^ould  be  laid  out  in  improving 
land  at  present  unproductive,  and  the  salt  marsh  might  be  drain 
€d.  In  the  same  way,  houses  and  other  instruments  would  be- 
come more  substantial,  and  better  finished,  were  the  strength 
of  the  accumulative  principle  throughout  the  whole  society  to 
advance. 

In  China,  precisely  similar  replies  would  be  made  by  capital- 
ists, concerning  the  draining  of  marshes,  the  erection  of  more 
substantial  buildings,  and  other  enterprises  requiring  a  large  pre- 
sent expenditure,  for  a  remote  future  return.  There  such  un- 
dertakings would  be  really  unprofitable,  not  paying  the  usual 
profits  of  stock,  and  they  can  only  in  like  manner  become  pro- 
fitable, by  the  accumulative  principle  acquiring  increased  strength, 
and  instruments  being  wrought  up  generally  to  orders  of  slower 
return. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  207 

This,  however,  is  not  the  view,  which  most  readily  presents 
itself  to  practical  men.  To  a  person  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
an  art,  the  particular  mode  which  the  circumstances  of  the  coun- 
try to  which  he  belongs  has  rendered  the  most  profitable,  and 
best,  is  considered  as  absolutely  the  best,  and  most  profitable, 
and  if  he  remove  to  another  country,  he  is  apt  to  conceive  not 
only  that  his  knowledge  of  the  art  is  superior,  which  may  per- 
haps be  true,  but  that  the  precise  mode  in  which  he  applies  that 
knowledge  to  practice,  is  also  the  best,  that  can  any  where  be 
adopted,  which  is  very  possibly  erroneous. 

A  English  farmer,  for  example,  who  comes  to  North  America 
to  pursue  his  art,  almost  always  commences  on  the  same  system 
which  he  followed  in  Britain.  His  agricultural  implements,  his 
harness,  his  carts,  waggons,  &c.  are  all  of  the  most  durable  and 
complete,  and,  therefore,  of  the  most  expensive  construction, 
and  his  fields  are  tilled  as  laboriously,  and  carefully,  as  were 
those  he  cultivated  in  his  native  land.  Sometime  usually  elapses, 
before  he  discovers  that  he  may  do  better  by  being  content  with 
more  simple,  and  less  highly  finished  implements,  and  that  it  will 
be  for  his  advantage  to  cultivate  his  land  less  laboriously,  though 
not  less  systematically.  His  neighbors  tell  him,  indeed,  from  the 
first,  that  if  he  expects  the  same  profits  as  they  have,  he  must 
have  less  dead  stock  on  his  hands,  and  must  give  more  activity 
to  his  capital ;  but  he  is  slow  of  believing  them. 

Similar  observations  might  be  made,  concerning  almost  every 
other  class  of  artists,  who  emigrate  to  the  new  world.  They  all, 
at  first,  give  a  degree  of  finish  to  the  materials  on  which  they 
employ  their  industry,  that  is  unsuited  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  country. 


CHAPTER    X 


OF  THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  PROGRESS  OF  INVENTION,  AND  OF  THE  EFFECTS 

ARISING  FROM  IT. 

Invention  is  the  most  important  of  the  secondary  agents,  to 
the  influence  of  which  man  is  subject.  To  us,  it  is  the  great 
immediate  maker  of  ahnost  all  that  is  the  subject  of  our  thoughts, 
or  ministers  to  our  enjoyments,  or  necessities,  nor  is  there  any 
portion  of  our  existence,  which  is  not  indebted  to  its  antecedent 
forming  power.  Wherever  it  really  is,  it  is  recognised  as  one 
and  the  same,  by  this  its  formative  capacity.  It  is  always  a 
maker,  and,  in  a  double  sense,  a  maker.  From  the  depths  of 
the  infinity  lying  within  and  without  us,  it  brings-  visibly  before 
us  forms  previously  hidden.  These  are  its  first  works.  But 
neither  does  it  intend  to  stop,  nor  does  it,  in  fact,  stop  here. 
The  forms  which  its  eye  thus  catches,  and  its  skill  "  bodies  forth  " 
into  material  shape,  pass  not  away  ;  they  remain.  Things  of 
power,  true  workers,  drawing  to  themselves,  and  fashioning  to 
their  semblance,  the  changeable  and  fleeting  crowd,  that  time 
hurries  down  its  stream,  they  are,  in  truth,  the  only  permanent 
dwellers  in  the  world,  and  rulers  of  it.  In  this  the  double  power 
of  his  works,  the  mathematician  is  as  much  a  maker  as  the  poet, 
and  the  poet  as  the  mathematician,  and  genius  in  all  its  manifes- 
tations, may,  in  so  far,  be  considered  as  the  same  power,  and  as 
excited  to  action  by  similar  causes. 

Our  subject  leads  us  to  attend  to  invention,  merely  as  it  con- 
cerns itself  with  the  material  world.  But,  as  the  motives  ex- 
citing the  men  in  whom  it  is  exhibited  to  give  themselves  up  to 
its  requirements,  must  be  held  among  the  chief  of  the  causes  of 
its  manifestation,  and  as  they,  who  in  this  department,  have  been 
most  extensively  inventors,  have  in  general  communicated  little 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  209 

of  the  principles  that  animated  and  sustained  them  in  their  career, 
science  and  art  being  silent  of  themselves,  we  may  be  allowed  to 
give  wider  compass  to  our  view,  and  to  cite,  when  our  purpose 
requires  it,  those  who  have  been  real  discoverers,  in  any  of  the 
various  regions  over  which  the  power  of  this  principle  extends. 

The  motives,  exciting  to  this  sphere  of  action,  are  not  very 
apparent. 

Man  is  essentially  imitative  ;  his  instincts  impel  him  to  amal- 
gamate with  the  mass.  From  the  first  moment  of  his  existence, 
his  faculties  are  on  the  stretch,  drinking  greedily  in  surrounding 
gestures,  feelings,  principles  and  modes  of  action,  which  he  again 
communicates ;  he  seems  by  turns  a  recipient  of  existing  impres- 
sions, and  a  transmitter  of  them  to  others.  Nor,  unless  he  look 
far  beyond  himself,  is  there  any  evident  motive  for  his  endeavor- 
ing to  extricate  himself  from  the  ever-whirling  circle  of  which 
he  forms  a  part.  Hundreds  of  milhons  have  preceded  him ;  to 
learn  and  practise,  what  they  have  left,  is  the  direct  road  to  his 
goods,  pleasure  and  honor;  why  then  should  the  individual  waste 
the  sweets  of  a  momentary  existence,  in  rashly  and  needlessly 
tasking  his  feeble  powers,  to  form  a  new  path,  when  one  already 
exists,  along  which  so  many  have  trodden,  and  which  their  foot- 
steps have  beaten  smooth  ?  One  of  the  Jesuits  having  been 
asked,  why  the  Chinese  had  made  no  progress  in  astronomy, 
beyond  the  rude  elements  of  the  science  that  they  had  possessed 
from  a  very  remote  antiquity,  answers,  fiom  the  indolence,  and 
w'ant  of  application  to  these  pursuits,  of  the  men  of  succeeding 
ages,  and  from  their  preferring,  like  those  of  the  present  day, 
what  they  have  esteemed  their  immediate  and  substantial  inter- 
ests, to  the  vain  and  barren  reputation  of  having  discovered  some- 
thing new.  The  reason,  which  the  father  Parennin  assigns  for 
the  stationary  state  of  their  astronomy,  may  be  transferred  to  all 
their  other  sciences,  arts,  and  pursuits,  which  fifty  generations 
have  contented  themselves  with  learning,  practising,  and  teaching, 
as  they  received  them  from  men  of  times  more  distant.  A  well 
weighed  attention  to  what  is  for  their  present,  and  as  they  say 
substantial  interests,  has  led  them  to  do  this,  and  forbid  them  to 
do  more. 

In  that  Empire,  the  door  to  wealth  and  honor  Is  not  absolutely 
barred  to  any  one,  and  In  this  It  would  seem  superior  to  other 
lands,  that  there,  whoever  possesses  learning  has  a  key  that  will 

27 


210  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

infallibly  open  it.  Let  him  who  would  raise  himself  superior  to 
his  fellows,  give  his  youth  to  study,  let  him  carefully  make  his 
own  a  due  portion  of  the  knowledge,  the  wit,  the  eloquence,  or 
what  passes  for  them,  stored  in  the  volumes  his  masters  put  in 
his  hands.  These  acquirements  will  be  the  passports  to  the 
places  round  which  riches  and  distinctions  cluster.  Making  use 
of  them  industriously,  prudently,  perseveringly,  he  may  certainly 
attain  the  rank  of  a  skilful  physician,  a  learned  jurist,  a- practised 
and  ready  speaker,  or,  perhaps,  a  man  versed  in  the  constitution 
and  policy  of  the  empire,  fit  to  take  on  him  the  office  of  a  states- 
man, and  share  its  rewards  and  honors.  He  may  be  attended 
by  obsequious  crowds  ready  to  flatter  his  vanity,  minister  to  his 
pleasures,  conceal  his  weaknesses ;  alive  he  may  be  honored, 
dead  lamented,  —  why  then  abandon  these  sure  and  substantial 
advantages,  to  pursue  what  there  is  but  a  chance  of  gaining,  and 
which,  even  if  at  length  attained,  is  but  empty  fame,  —  a  bieath, 
—  the  filhng  at  the  best, 

"  A  certain  portion  of  uncertain  paper." 

The  practical  w  isdom  of  the  Chinese,  answers  at  once  it  were 
folly. 

Is  that,  which  is  sound  practical  wisdom  among  those  Asiatics, 
the  reverse  of  it  among  us  Europeans  ?  The  reader  may  deter- 
mine, by  casting  his  eyes  about  him,  to  discover  who  are  the  men, 
who  have  been  most  successful  in  attaining  wealth,  comfort,  re- 
spectability ;  in  avoiding  dependence,  misfortune,  calumny.  Who- 
ever, or,  wherever,  he  may  be,  certainly  he  will  not  find  it  is 
they  who  have  sought  to  be,  or  have  really  been  men  of  genius. 

We  in  vain  search  for  any  sufficient  motive  exciting  to  this 
course  of  action,  unless  the  good  arising  from  communicating 
good,  and  the  consequent  desire  to  be  a  benefactor  in  the  most 
extended  possible  manner.*  This  desire  is  the  proper  aliment 
of  genius.     "  Leave  me  not,"  the  lay  it, 

"  In  its  loneliness, 

Its  own  still  world,  amid  tli'  o'er  peopled  world, 
Hath  ever  breathed  to  love." 

When  very   strongly  felt,  it  irresistibly  impels   those  who  are 

*  This  is  to  be  received  as  concerns  our  existence,  limited  to  the  earth  and 
to  time,  the  only  light  in  which  it  can  with  propriety  be  considered,  in  these 
speculations.  Were  we  to  view  it  as  belonging  to  the  universe,  and  to  eternity, 
action  directed  to  the  purposes  referred  to,  would  not  be  impeded  from  the 
considerations  thus  presented,  but  would,  on  the  contrary,  derive  from  them 
freedom  and  energy. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  21 1 

conscious  of  capacities  equal  to  the  attempt,  spite  of  every  obstacle 
to  be  overcome,  or  pain  to  be  endured,  to  task  themselves  to  the 
performance  of  works  of  permanent  and  diffusive  utility.  To 
reflective  minds,  and  large  and  generous  natures,  the  creations 
of  genius  must  present  themselves,  as  of  all  works,  those  most 
extensively  conferring  enjoyment  and  power:*  and  their  success- 
ful execution,  as  of  every  enterprise  the  noblest;  nor  need  we 
wonder  that  to  such  it  should  have  a  voice  of  mac-ical.and  almost 
resistless  attraction. 

When  the  peasant  poet  of  Scotland  seeks  to  recall  an  image 
of  his  earliest  self,  he  finds  there  uppermost  this  master  passion, 
this  "boundless  love"  of  his  fellows,  and  his  native  land,  urging 
him  to  make  it  appear  by  something  worthy  of  it,  and  marking 
its  strength.     This  was  the  wish, 

"Ev'n  then  a  wish  (I  mind  its  power,") 
A  wish  that,  to  my  latest  hour, 
Shall  strongly  heave  my  breast," 

that  led  him  to  the  realms  of  sone;.  This  was  in  truth  the 
genius, 

"  Sua  cuique  deus  fit  dira  cupido," 

who  "  threw  her  inspiring  mantle  over  him,"  and  awakening 
powers  else  torpid,  enabled  him  to  draw  from  out  the  vulgarity 
before  hiding  them,  images  not  idly  falling,  and  to  fall,  on  many 
a  heart,  patriotism  ardent  and  self-devoting ;  passion  manly  yet 
tender ;  love  without  the  coarseness  of  the  one  class  of  society, 
or  the  affectation  or  epicurism,  of  the  other. 

Who  can  estimate  all  the  effects  of  these  hasty  fragments  of 
the  poet's  art  ?  If  w^e  consider  the  subject  well,  and  weigh  it 
fairly,  we  shall  confess,  that  their  author  has  exercised  an  in- 
fluence already  greater,  and  far  more  abiding  than  any  of  the 
men  of  his  country  and  age.  It  is  thus  that  genius  manifests 
the  potency  of  the  principle  that  inspires  it,  and  that  the  simplest 
Jays  of  the  simplest  bard,  may  have  a  power  passing  far,  that  of 
the  triumphs  of  the  statesman,  or  the  warrior.  The  one  wakens 
energy,  otherwise  dead,  into  action,  the  other  merely  directs  that 
action. 

"  But,"  it  may  be  said,  and  not  without  a  show  of  reason, 

*  Videtur  inventorum  nobilium  introductio  inter  actiones  hiimanas  longe 
primas  partes  tenere.  Lokd  Bacon. 


212  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

"  vvliy,  if  genius  is  roused  and  moved  by  principles  so  pure,  does 
it  happen,  that  the  undoubted  possessors  of  it,  are  themselves  so 
often  defaced  by  faults,  and  that  we  speak  of  them,  and  their 
aberrations,  as  if  naturally  conjoined  ?  Ambition,  the  desire  of 
excelhng,  a  much  more  questionable  motive,  would  rather  seem 
its  proper  stimulant." 

As  we  are  not  attempting  to  investigate  the  governing  principles 
of  classes,  but  of  societies,  it  were,  perhaps,  enough  in  answer  to 
observe,  that  the  existence  of  genius  among  a  people,  implies  at 
least,  the  diffusion  of  a  tincture  of  generous  feelings,  somewhere 
throughout  the  mass.  If  we  were  to  see  an  individual,  periling 
his  own  life,  to  rescue  another  from  impending  danger,  it  might 
be  doubtful  to  us  whether  the  action  proceeded  from  a  desire  of 
saving  the  person  in  danger,  or  of  the  applause  and  praises  fol- 
lowing the  doing  of  it ;  but  that  applause,  and  those  praises, 
would  themselves  evince  a  general  perception  of  the  moral  worth 
of  such  an  action,  supposing  it  to  proceed  from  the  purest  mo- 
tives, and  correspondent  sympathy  in  the  pleasure  likely  to  be 
experienced  from  it.  Vanity  could  receive  no  gratification  from 
a  deed  of  this  sort,  where  the  spectators  only  regarded  it  as  an 
incomprehensible  piece  of  rashness.  In  like  manner,  though  it 
seem  to  us,  that  many  who  have  eminently  succeeded  in  the 
pursuits  of  which  we  speak,  have  been  actuated  merely  by  the 
desire  of  gratifying  a  selfish  vanity,  still,  that  the  attainment  of 
these  objects  should  be  followed  by  the  warm  and  sincere  applause, 
that  alone  constitutes  genuine  fame,  is  a  proof  at  least,  of  the 
existence  somewhere,  of  a  due  appreciation  of  the  motives  from 
which  these  pursuits  are  supposed  to  proceed,  and  of  sympathy 
with  the  pure  gratifications  their  success  is  presumed  to  yield. 
But  it  enters  into  my  design  to  show,  that,  without  supposing  the 
two  classes  actuated  by  different  principles,  there  are  sufficient 
causes  for  those  wanderings,  as  they  are  called,  of  genius  from 
the  common  path,  for  that  contrariety  of  course,  that  seldom 
intermitting  opposition  and  strife,  which  have  almost  every  where 
been  maintained,  between  the  society  in  which  they  existed,  and 
the  individuals,  who  have  been  ultimately  the  great  instruments 
of  ameliorating  and  elevating  its  condition.  Such  an  exposition, 
removing  part  of  the  obstructions  to  our  view,  will  make  it  appear, 
that  it  is  not  so  much  from  the  diversity  of  the  moving  powers, 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  213 

as  from  the  imperfections  of  the  bodies  impelled,  that  tliis  jarring 
and  contrariety  of  action  arises. 

It  is  necessary  to  premise,  that  for  the  present  purpose,  two 
classes  occasionally  confounded  together,  must  be  kept  apart. 
Real  inventers,  the  men  whom  we  have  alone  to  consider,  differ 
from  mere  transmitters  of  things  already  known.  The  latter  are 
an  acknowledged,  and  very  useful  class,  in  all  societies,  but,  they 
neither  encounter  similar  difficulties,  nor  produce  similar  effects 
to  the  former.     They  neither  oppose,  nor  direct  the  current. 

In  the  gradual  progress  of  things,  the  media  for  communicat- 
ing ideas  have  been  changed  ;  types  have  come  to  do,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  office  of  the  voice.  What  in  ages  past  would  have 
formed  a  discourse,  or  harangue,  is  now  a  book,  or  part  of  a 
book.  Among  the  many  vast  consequences  of  the  revolution, 
we  overlook  the  small  one  of  its  occasioning  the  classing  under 
one  name,  of  those  who  are  enlargers  of  the  stock  of  knowledge, 
and  those  who  are  merely  efficient  communicators  of  portions  of 
it.  They  are  all  successful  authors,  authors,  that  is,  of  books 
which  are  read.  Just  so,  the  bard  or  bards  of  the  elder  ages 
of  ancient  Greece,  who  first  embodied  in  song  the  deeds  of  the 
besiegers  of  Troy,  and  they  who,  in  after  times,  repeated  the 
verses  they  had  learned,  were  all  chanters  of  heroic  lays,  many 
too  of  the  latter  may  have  been  more  successful  chanters  than  the 
former,  for  they  sang  to  ears  prepared,  but  there  was  between  them 
notwithstanding,  an  essential  difference.  There  is  also  a  line 
distinguishing  the  mere  framers  of  books,  from  the  original  makers 
of  their  materials ;  it  may  not  be  very  easily  drawn  indeed ;  but 
this  is  unnecessary  for  our  purpose,  it  is  sufficient  to  have  pointed 
out  its  existence.  It  may  be  observed,  too,  that  as  of  bards,  so 
of  authors,  they  who  are  mere  compilers  and  repeaters,  may  be 
more  successful  than  they  who  are  real  inventers,  they  may  better 
suit  their  productions  to  particular  times,  tastes,  and  exigencies, 
and,  besides,  they  can  always  find  an  audience  prepared,  by  pre- 
vious training,  to  applaud. 

The  tendency  of  these  pursuits  is  to  withdraw  those  occupied 
in  them,  from  the  daily  business  of  society.  They  fill  not  the 
places  open  for  them,  and  which  they  are  expected  to  fill ;  even 
when  necessity  pushes  them  for  a  time  into  them,  and  compels 
them  to  mingle  with  the  crowd,  they  are  marked  as  not  belonging 
to  it.     Abstract  and  scientific  truth  can  only  be  discovered,  by 


214  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

deep  and  absorbing  meditation ;  imperfectly  at  first  discerned, 
thioLigh  the  medium  of  its  dull  capacities,  the  intellect  slowly, 
and  cautiously,  not  wkhout  much  of  doubt,  and  many  unsuccess- 
ful essays,  succeeds  in  lifting  the  veil  that  hides  it.  The  pro- 
cedure is  altogether  unlike  the  prompt  detertnination,  and  ready 
confidence,  of  the  man  of  action,  and  generally  unfits,  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  for  performing  well  the  part.  He,  again,  who 
dwells  in  the  world  of  possible  moral  beauty  and  perfection, 
moves  awkwardly,  rashly,  and  painfully,  through  this  of  every- 
day life,  he  is  ever  mistaking  his  own  way,  and  jostling  others  in 
theirs.  To  the  possessors  of  fortune,  these  habits  only  give 
eccentricity  ;  they  affect  those  of  scanty  fortune,  or  without  for- 
tune, with  more  serious  ills.  Unable  to  fight  their  way  ably, 
cautiously,  and  perseveringly,  through  the  bustle  of  life,  poverty, 
dependence,  and  all  their  attendant  evils,  are  most  commonly 
their  lot. 

"  Toil,  envy,  want,  the  patron,  and  the  jail," 

are  calamities,  from  the  actual  endurance  of  some  of  which,  or 
the  dread  of  it,  they  are  seldom  free.  These,  however,  they 
share  with  other  men ;    there  are  some  peculiarly  their  own. 

Pursuing  objects  not  to  be  perceived  by  others,  or  if  perceived, 
whose  importance  is  beyond  the  reach  of  their  conceptions,  the 
motives  of  their  conduct  are  necessarily  misapprehended.  They 
are  esteemed  either  idlers,  culpably  negligent  in  turning  to  account 
the  talents  they  have  got,  dullards  deficient  in  the  common  parts 
necessary  to  discharge  the  common  offices  of  life,  or  madmen 
unfit  to  be  trusted  with  their  performance ;  sliut  out  from  the 
esteem  or  fellowship  of  those  whose  regard  they  might  prize, 
they  are  brought  into  contact  with  those  with  whom  they  can 
liave  nothing  in  common,  knaves  vvho  laugh  at  them  as  their 
prey,  fools  who  pity  them  as  their  fellows.  Their  characters 
misunderstood,  debarred  from  all  sympathy,  uncheered  by  any 
approbation,  the  "  eternal  war,"  they  have  to  wage  with  fortune, 
is  doubly  trying,  because  they  are  aware,  that,  if  they  succumb, 
they  will  be  borne  off  the  field,  not  only  unknown,  but  miscon- 
ceived. To  have  merely  to  pass  without  his  fame,  the  poet 
paints  as  a  fate,  capable  of  adding  double  gloom  to  the  shades 
below, 

"  Sed  frons  Iteta  parum,  et  dcjecto  lumina  vultu, 

*  *  « 

Nox  atra  caput  tristi  circumvolat  umbra." 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  215 

What  must  it  be  to  those,  then,  who  feel,  that,  ere  final  ob- 
livion hides  them,  calumny  must  for  a  time  prolong  the  memory 
of  their  existence  ? 

Imperfect  man  is  ever  prompt,  without  any  consideration  of 
the  motives  of  the  agents,  to  conceive  of  the  evils  he  endures 
as  of  wrongs  received,  and  to  be  avenged,  on  the  doers  of  them. 
We  need  not  wonder  then,  that  the  manifold  sufferings  of  genius, 
should  sometimes  place  it  in  opposition  to  humanity  itself,  and 
that,  in  the  inconsistency  and  recklessness  of  passion,  it  should 
turn  in  anger,  and  in  scorn,  as  its  bitterest  enemy,  on  that  of  which 
it  is,  in  heart,  the  truest  lover. 

These  are  circumstances,  largely  affecting  the  possessors  of 
this  faculty,  even  before  they  have  succeeded  in  making  it  mani- 
fest, before  they  have  been  able  to  give  outward  shape  to  their 
inward  conceptions.  There  are  others,  operating  similarly,  after 
they  have  succeeded  in  producing  them.  What  is  really  new, 
has  to  encounter  obstacles  of  two  sorts.  It  is  the  nature  of 
men  to  be  copiers,  and,  with  exceedingly  kw  exceptions,  they 
are  nothing  more.  Mere  followers  they  are  of  rules,  walkers 
in  well-beaten  paths.  Whatever,  therefore,  is  in  any  degree 
really  new,  being  probably  beyond  these  rules,  is  also  beyond 
their  judgment.  Nor  is  this  the  worst ;  it  is  also  very  fre- 
quently in  opposition  to  it ;  it  disagreeably  disturbs  and  jars  the 
existing  systems,  by  which  men  guide  their  feelings  and  reason- 
ings. Hence  the  works  of  almost  all  men  of  really  inventive 
powers,  have,  at  first,  been  either  slighted  or  decried.  Cervantes, 
one  of  the  most  powerful,  and  original  geniuses  of  modern  times, 
and  who  ultimately  operated  as  largely  on  affairs,  as  any  man 
whom  they  have  witnessed,  was  placed  by  his  contemporaries 
far  below  the  subservient  taste  of  Lope  de  Vigo,  and,  in  his 
last  days,  had  to  turn  from  Don  Quixote  to  a  theme  correspond- 
ent to  the  bombast  of  his  age.*  It  is  needless  to  multiply  ex- 
amples, —  in  a  similar  walk  Tasso,  and  Shakspeare  ;  in  another, 
Hume  and  Montesquieu  ;  in  another,  Bacon  and  Galileo,  experi- 
enced at  first  either  comparative  neglect,  or  partial,  or  general 
opposition.     Few  names  that  now  pass  current,  but  rose  with 

*  We  cannot  read  the  romance  of  Peresiles  and  Sigesmundi,  published  after 
his  death  ;  it  had  more  success  than  any  of  his  works.  "  Jamais  cet  homme 
celebre,"  says  one  of  his  biographers, "  ne  fut  a  sa  veritable  place  :  on  dedaigne 
ses  talens  on  meconnut  ses  vertus,  on  fut  insensible  a  sa  raisere." 


216  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

difficulty,  and  were  nearly  again  submerged  in  their  earlier  pro- 
gress, by  the  shock  of  opposing  prejudices. 

The  practice  of  printing,  has  gradually,  as  it  has  extended  the 
circle  of  readers,  produced  effects  on  the  productions  of  genius, 
not  here  to  be  passed  unnoticed.  The  autlior  looks  to  what  he 
calls  the  public,  to  those,  that  is,  who  read,  or  rather  to  his  own 
talents  for  producing  works  that  will  find  readers,  for  the  pecun- 
iary rewards  of  his  productions.  This  circumstance  has  had 
much  effect,  both  in  turning  the  powers  of  men  of  talents  to 
subjects  that  may  generally  interest,  and  in  obliging  them  to 
treat  them  in  a  manner,  suited  to  the  tastes,  and  notions  of  the 
crowd. 

Odi  profanum  vulgus  et  arceo, 

is  a  sentiment  tliat  they  neither  avouch,  nor  act  upon.  That 
their  works  may  be  popular,  men  of  the  highest  original  genius 
bring  it  out  cautiously,  and  in  a  diffused  ibrm.  Their  experi- 
ments are  timid.  Being,  in  their  way,  manufacturers,  they  can- 
not afford  to  make  such  as  might  deteriorate  the  value  of  their 
goods.  They  must  not  venture  on  a  dish  altogether  new,  they 
confine  their  powers  to  the  discovery  of  something  that  may 
give  piquancy  to  the  old.  If  the  practice  be  not  prejudicial  to 
the  progress  of  invention  itself,  it  is  fatal  to  the  lasting  fame  of 
the  inventers.  The  mass  keeps  swelling,  from  generation  to 
generation,  but  how,  cannot  well  be  noted.  This  result  has, 
however,  little  to  do  with  our  subject;  there  is  another  which 
has  much. 

It  being  conceived  to  be  within  the  compass  of  talent,  to  pro- 
cure, in  this  way,  its  own  reward,  genius  of  the  highest  order,  if 
its  productions  are  not  of  a  sort  to  bring  a  price  from  a  book- 
seller, receives  now  less  recompense  than  even  in  ages  not  so 
able  to  appreciate  the  benefits  conferred  by  it ;  and,  from  the  same 
causes,  the  propensity  to  neglect  it  is  greatest  where  the  reading 
public  is  the  most  numerous.  The  promoters  of  the  abstract 
sciences,  and  the  arts,  are  no  where  less  efficiently  aided,  than 
in  Great  Britain.  There,  the  observations  of  Lord  Bacon  apply 
nearly  as  forcibly  as  ever.  "  It  is  enough  to  restrain  the  increase  of 
science,  that  energy  and  industry  so  bestowed,  want  recompense. 
The  ability  to  cultivate  science,  and  to  reward  it,  lies  not  in  the 
same  hands.  Science  is  advanced  by  men  of  great  genius  alone, 
while  it  can  only  be  rewarded  by  the  crowd,  or  by  men  high  in 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  217 

fortune  or  authority,  wlio  have  very  rarely  themselves  any  pre- 
tensions to  it.  Besides,  success  in  these  pursuits  is  not  only 
unattended  by  reward  or  favor,  but  is  destitute  of  popular  praise. 
They  are,  for  the  most  part,  above  the  conceptions  of  the  com- 
monalty, and  are  easily  overthrown,  and  swept  away,  by  the  wind 
of  popular  opinion."* 

Without  speaking  of  the  sciences,  and,  in  the  arts,  confining 
our  attention  to  those  exertions  of  the  inventive  faculty,  the  bene- 
fits of  which,  obstructed  by  no  unforeseen  obstacle,  have  been  very 
largely  felt,  how  many,  even  of  the  most  successful  of  these, 
have  been  adequately  rewarded  ?  How  many  of  them  have 
left  their  authors  in  poverty,  or  brought  them  to  it !  The  per- 
sonal history  of  most  men,  who,  in  modern  times,  have  brought 
into  being  those  arts  by  which  human  power  has  been  so  largely 
advanced,  is  little  else  than  a  narration  of  misfortunes,  and  in- 
gratitude. 

Nor  are  the  sweets  of  success  itself,  in  any  department  of  in- 
vention, even  if  tasted,  uncontaminated  by  much  of  bitterness. 
It  is  chiefly  felt  at  the  time,  as  superiority,  on  which  wait  envy 
and  flattery.  Malice,  and  insincerity,  the  great  separators  of 
man  from  man,  and  poisoners  of  the  pleasures  of  existence, 
follow  close  after.  He  who  gains  it,  attains  an  elevation  com- 
manding, but  joyless,  and  unsafe. 

"  Though  high  above  the  sun  of  glory  glow, 

And  far  beneath  the  earth  and  ocean  spread, 

'Round  him  are  icy  rocks,  and  loudly  blow, 

Contending  tempests  on  his  naked  head. 

And  thus  reward  the  toils,  which  to  those  summits  led."t 

It  is  death  alone  that  can  give  him  to  the  full  sympathies  of 
his  fellows.  When  the  earth  wraps  her  noblest,  none  any  longer 
envy  him,  all  lament  the  benefactor,  no  one  sees  the  rival,  or  the 
master. 

These  are  circumstances  disturbing  the  course  of  genius,  com- 

*"  Satis  est  ad  cohebendum  augmentum  scientiarum,  quod  hujusmodi  co- 
natus  et  industrias  praemiis  careant.  Non  enim  penes  cosdem  est  cultura  sci- 
entiarum, et  prseniium.  Scientiarum  enim  augmenta  a  magnis  utique  ingeniis 
proveniunt ;  at  pretia  et  prsemia  scientiarum  sunt  penes  vulgus  aut  principes 
viros,  qui  (nisi  raro  admodum)  vix  mediocriter  docti  sunt.  Quinetiam  hu- 
jusmodi progressus,  non  solum  praemiis  et  beneficentia  hominum,  verum 
etiam  ipsa  populari  laude  destituti  sunt.  Sunt  enim  illi  supra  captum  maximse 
partis  hominum,  et  ab  opinionwm  vulgarium  ventis  facile  obruuntur  et  ext'"- 
guuntur." 

t  Childc  Harold. 

28 


218  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

ing  mainly  from  misapprehensions  from  without ;  there  are  others 
flowing  from  weaknesses,  and  imperfections,  within. 

There  are,  in  every  society,  rules  of  conduct,  and  practices  of 
life,  which  tlie  progress  of  events  has  gradually  niaiked  out,  and 
general  observance   hallowed.     Of  these,  some  are  founded  on 
the  principles  of  morality  and  religion,  some  on  caprice,  some  on 
prejudice.     The  breaking  of  any  of  them  is  always  esteemed  a 
crime  against  society,  and  in  reality  is  so  ;  the  observance  of 
them  constitutes  a  character,  in  public  estimation,  perfect.     The 
mere  man  of  society,  that  is,  the  man  of  merely  imitative  action, 
learns  them  all  uninquiringly,  and  diligently :  they  make  up  in- 
deed, almost  all  he  knows,  and  all  the  interests    of  himself  and 
family  requires   he  should   know,  of  right  and  wrong.      If  he 
transgress  them,  it  is  secretly,  and  cautiously.     He  makes  amends 
by  unscrupulously,  and  unsparingly  gratifying,  whatever  is  not 
forbid  by  the  letter  of  his  code,  or  by  his  own  convenience.     The 
inquirer  into  principles,  again,  takes  a  wider  range,  it  is  not  the 
morality  or  religion   of  Italy,   of  France,  of  Britain,  of  North 
America,  after  which  he  seeks,  but  religion  and  morality  in  gen- 
eral.    He  attempts  to  learn,  not  what  is  delivered,  but  what  is. 
The  consequence   is,  that,   while   the  mere  man  of  the  world 
is  never  at  a  loss,  but  proceeds  securely  in  the  direct  path  to 
general    approbation,    the  man  of  speculation  very   frequently 
wanders  from  it.     To  say  nevertheless,  either  that  he  knows  not 
what  is  good  or  fit,  or  that  he   is   not  desirous  of  observing  it 
were  untrue.       The    eye    of   the   rider  glances    over  hill  and 
dale,  marks   the  streams,  the  woods,  the   hamlets,  that   diversify 
the  prospect,  and   the  whole  configuration   of  the   country  he 
traverses,  and  so  he  knows  the  road.     The    animal    he   rides 
knows  it  too ;  he  knows  it  as  giving  exercise   to  his  limbs,  and 
bringing  him,  by  every  step  he  makes,  forward,  or  right,  or  left, 
nearer  to  some  stable-door.      Ten   to  one,  that,  practically,  the 
latter  has  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  it  than  the  former,  and 
that,   while   the   irrational   shall    sagaciously  and   unhesitatingly 
follow  it  out,  without  missing  a  single   turnino;,  or  makina;  one 
blunder,  the  rational,  especially  if  the   fancy   take  him   to  pre- 
serve something  of  a  straight  line,  shall  have  to  pass  from  track, 
to  track,  to   leap  many  a  hedge  and  many   a  ditch,  and   having 
been  obliged  after  all,  to  make  detours   in  abundance,  come  out 
at  last  weary,  jaded,  and  bemired. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  219 

The  ills,  which  men  of  genius  thus  occasion  and  endure,  from 
seeking  for  their  rules  of  action,  altogether  from  the  relations, 
wliich  they  perceive  they  have  to  the  general  system  of  human 
society,  without  sufficiently  regarding  those,  which  necessarily 
connect  them  to  the  little  system  of  some  particular  society,  are 
merely  errors  in  the  actual  course  pursued,  not  in  the  motives 
from  which  that  course  was  adopted.  There  are  others  more 
fatal,  coming,  not  from  mistakes  in  action,  but  from  errors  in  the 
motives  to  action,  and  from  the  imagination  that  it  may  be  allow- 
able willingly  to  do  a  small  evil,  if  a  large  amount  of  good  fol- 
low it.  This  is  unquestionably  a  moral  error,  to  ^vhich  men  of 
high  powers  must,  from  the  consciousness  of  these  powers,  be 
peculiarly  liable.  It  were  painful  to  bring  forward  instances  of 
their  succumbing  to  the  temptation.* 

It  is  thus  that  a  power,  which  seems  to  be  at  first  wakened  to 
life,  and  to  draw  its  earliest  aliment,  from  the  promptings  of 
strong  desires  in  man,  to  unite  himself  extensively  with  his  fellow 
men,  to  exist  with  them,  and  for  them,  rather  than  in  himself, 


*  It  is  strange  that  Cicero,  as  in  the  following  passage,  should  seem  to  coun- 
tenance this  most  common  and  dangerous  of  moral  sophisms.  "Quid?  si 
Phalarim,  crudelem  tyrannum  et  immanem,  vir  bonus,  ne  ipse  frigore  confi- 
ciatur,  vestitu  spoliare  possit ;  nonne  t'aciat  ?  Hepc  ad  judicandum  sunt  facil- 
lima.  nam,  si  quid  ab  homine  ad  nullam  partem  utili,  tuaj  utiJitatis  causa  de- 
traxei  is  :  inhumane  feceris,  contraque  naturae  legem  :  sin  autem  is  tu  sis,  qui 
multam  utilitatem  reipublicas  atque  hominum  societati,  si  in  vita  remaneas, 
afferre  possis,  si  quid  ob  earn  causam  alteri  detraxerls,  non  sit  reprehenden- 
dum.  —  Communis  utilitatis  derelictio  contra  naturam  est,  est  enim  injusta. 
itaque  lex  ipsa  naturae,  quae  utilitatem  hominum  conservat  et  continet,  de- 
cernit  profecto,  ut  ab  homine  inerti  atque  inutili,  ad  sapientem,  honum,  for- 
temque  viruni  transferantur  res  ad  vivendum  necessariae :  qui  si  occiderit, 
multum  de  communi  utiUtate  detraxerit." — De  Officiis  L.  III. 

Such  reasoning,  followed  fairly  out,  would  not  stop  until  it  assumed  the 
form  which  Sir  Walter  Scott  has  given  it,  in  the  speech  of  Anselmo. 

"  You  are  to  distinguish,  my  son,  replied  the  alchymist,  betwixt  that  which 
is  necessarily  evil  in  its  progress  and  in  its  end  also,  and  that  which  being 
evil,  is,  nevertheless,  capable  of  working  forth  good.  If,  by  the  death  of  one 
person,  the  happy  period  shall  be  brought  nearer  us,  in  which  all  that  is  good 
shall  be  attained,  by  wishing  its  presence,  —  all  that  is  evil  escaped,  by  de- 
siring its  absence,  &c.  If  this  blessed  consummation  of  all  things  can  be 
hastened  by  the  slight  circumstance,  that  a  frail  earthly  body,  which  must 
needs  partake  of  corruption,  shall  be  consigned  to  the  grave  a  short  space 
earlier  than  in  the  course  of  nature,  what  is  such  a  sacrilice  to  the  advance- 
ment of  the  holy  milleniuni." — KeniIv\'orth  c.  XXII. 

A  living  author,  in  the  character  of  Eugene  Aram,  gives  also  a  striking 
picture  of  the  dangerous  tendency  of  the  same  sophistry. 


220  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

as  it  gathers  strength,  and  predominates  in  any  individual,  gen- 
erally renders  him  so  dissimilar  to  other  men,  in  his  feelings, 
habits,  motives,  and  modes  of  action,  that  it  in  a  great  measure 
separates  him  from  them.  Whatever  he  may  be,  or  may  hope 
to  be  as  an  inventer,  or  author,  as  a  man  he  is  misconceived 
and  misapprehended.  Among  the  men  with  whom  he  lives, 
he  lives  as  not  of  them,  a  magic  circle  is  drawn  round  him 
which  neither  he  can  pass  without,  nor  they,  within.  Like  the 
attractive  and  repulsive  powers,  which  one  magnetic  influence 
communicates  to  matter  of  the  same  sort,  the  different  direction 
in  which  the  great  moving  and  cementing  principle  of  society 
has  been  made  to  flow  in  him,  and  in  them,  incessantly  repels, 
and  keeps  him  at  a  distance  from  them. 

This  disjunction  and  isolation  affect  various  natures  variously. 
Some  cannot  endure  it ;  they  cannot  live  but  in  the  constant  and 
intimate  sympathy  and  communion  of  their  fellows.  They  feel 
all  the  loneliness,  and  little  of  the  grandeur  of  the  desert.  They 
pant  for  the  land  of  life,  and  either  turning  to  it,  are  lost  in  it, 
their  former  existence  being  remembered  but  as  the  wanderings 
of  a  dream  ;  or  they  perish,  from  their  incapacity  to  mingle  with 
it.  Their  finer  and  gentler  natures  fed,  but  not  strengthened  by 
contemplation,  recoil  from  the  coarse  and  boisterous  spirits,  with 
whom  they  are  brought  into  contact.  They  sink  in  the  conflict 
and  pass  from  life  itself, 

"  A  precious  odour  cast 
On  a  wild  stream,  that  recklessly  sweeps  by  ; 

A  voice  of  music  uttered  to  the  blast. 
And  winning  no  reply." 

To  Others  of  firmer  mould,  the  action  of  these  alternately 
attracting  and  repelling  powers,  the  passing  from  one  state  of 
being  to  another  completely  opposite,  from  the  turmoil  of  spirit 
exched  by  braving  and  bearing  back  a  world  opposed,  to  the 
concentration  of  contemplative  solitude,  though  wasting,  is  in- 
vigorating. Like  steel  which  is  first  made  to  glow  in  fire,  and 
then  plunged  in  water,  the  fineness  of  their  temper  is  brought 
out  by  the  play  of  opposing  elements.  It  is  observed  by  Mr. 
Moore,  in  his  life  of  Lord  Byron,  that  but  for  the  opposition  he 
encountered,  the  noble  poet  had  never  stood  forth  in  might ;  that  . 
persecution  found  him,  as  Rousseau,  weak,  left  him  strong. 

Some,  again,  the  world  without  affording  no  resting  place,  en- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  221 

trench  themselves  in  the  world  within.  Their  excursions  out- 
wards, are  carried  on,  as  into  a  country  permanently  hostile.  To 
insult,  to  attack,  to  overthrow,  not  to  subdue,  or  establish,  is  their 
aim.  These  are  the  skeptics,  men  seemingly  abandoning  every 
other  hope  but  that  of  making  manifest  their  power,  a  power 
that  has  often  been  greater  than  they  themselves  have  conceived, 
and  which,  doubtless,  would  many  times  have  been  more  happily 
exerted,  had  they  found  themselves  in  happier  circumstances. 
When  we  read,  for  instance,  the  speculations  of  Hume,  we  do 
not  always  recollect  that  he  had  been  a  needy  dependent  brother 
of  a  scotch  land-holder,  had  failed  in  the  only  attempt  he  had 
ever  made  to  establish  himself  in  the  world,  by  entering  on  busi- 
ness, and  had  come  to  middle  life,  known  only  as  a  bookish  re- 
cluse, unable  to  do  good,  and  only  to  be  tolerated,  because  he 
was  too  inoffensive  to  do  harm  to  any  one.  Such  an  existence 
may  well  account  for  much  of  that  shrinking  within  himself,  that 
absence  of  all  heart,  that  habitual  distrust,  rather  rejoicing  to 
overthrow,  than  hoping  to  establish,  which  characterize  his  phi- 
losophy. Who  can  tell  how  great  has  been  the  influence  of 
that  philosophy,  in  producing  what  has  been,  what  is,  and  what 
is  to  be,  in  Britain,  and  in  Europe  ?  Of  this  we  may  be  assured, 
that  they  are  least  aware  of  it,  who  are  most  affected  by  it. 

There  are  yet  others  of  higher  minds,  who,  through  hopes 
disappointed,  and  errors  committed,  over  the  waste  of  the  world, 
and  the  ruins  of  their  own  hearts,  can  look  confidently  and  cour- 
ageously forward,  to  a  brighter,  though  far  distant  prospect.  It 
is  in  this  spirit  that  Lord  Bacon  bequeaths  his  fame  to  posterity, 
and  it  is  through  it,  that  he,  who  has  been  to  us  so  notable  a 
benefactor,  yet  holds  converse  with  us.  The  manly  and  gener- 
ous confidence  with  which  he  relies  on  the  better  parts  of  human 
nature,  and,  in  the  midst  of  so  many  discouraging  circumstances 
looks  forward  to  the  ultimate  reign  of  truth  and  happiness,  con- 
stitutes indeed,  I  may  be  allowed  to  remark,  no  small  part  of  the 
charm,  and  perhaps  of  the  utility  of  his  speculations. 

But,  however,  the  opposition  between  men  of  practice,  and 
men  of  speculation  and  invention  may  operate,  it  certainly  exists, 
and  there  are  perhaps  few  of  the  latter,  who  have  been  gifted 
.with  dispositions  so  happy,  or  fallen  in  times  so  fortunate,  as  not 
to  have  experienced  some  of  its  evils.  Nevertheless,  if  the 
view  which  has  been  presented  be  correct,  this  opposition  between 


222  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

the  two  classes,  the  one  engaged  in  the  application  of  what  is 
already  known  to  the  production  of  tlie  means  of  supplying 
future  necessities  or  pleasures,  the  other,  in  the  discovery  of  some- 
thing yet  unknown  and  which  may  serve  the  same  purposes, 
arise?,  not  so  much  from  a  difference  in  the  motives  to  action,  as 
from  a  diversity  in  the  modes  of  action,  and  the  principles  of  our 
nature  exciting  to  the  advance  of  invention,  would  seem  to  be 
nearly  identical  with  those  giving  activity  to  the  effective  desire 
of  accumulation. 

The  difference  between  the  two  is  rather  in  degree  than  in 
kind.  He  who  labors  to  provide  the  means  of  enjoyment  to 
wife,  children,  relations,  friends,  pursues  an  end  in  some  degree 
selfish.  It  is  his  own  wife,  his  own  children,  his  own  relations, 
whom  he  desires  to  benefit.  The  fruits  of  the  labors  of  genius, 
on  the  contrary,  are  the  property  of  the  whole  human  race.  On 
this  account,  though,  in  the  individual,  manifestations  of  the  in- 
ventive faculty  imply  a  superiority  in  some  of  the  intellectual 
powers,  they  rather  imply,  in  the  society,  a  preponderance  of 
the  social  and  benevolent  affections.  It  is  this  general  acuteness 
of  moral  sensation,  and  lively  sympathy  consequently  with  the 
pleasures  arising  to  the  individual,  from  the  success  of  exertions 
for  purposes  of  general  good,  that  can  alone  excite,  and  nourish, 
the  enthusiasm  of  genius. 

But,  though  there  are  two  of  the  circumstances  giving  strength 
to  the  principle  of  accumulation,  on  which  the  progress  of  the 
inventive  faculty  is  equally  dependent,  there  are  yet  a  set  of 
causes,  the  effects  of  which,  while  they  paralyze  the  exertions  of 
the  one,  rouse  the  other  to  activity.  Whatever  disturbs,  or 
threatens  to  disturb,  the  established  order  of  things,  by  exposing 
the  property  of  the  members  of  the  society  to  danger,  and  di- 
minishing the  certainty  of  its  future  possession,  diminishes  also 
the  desire  to  accumulate  it.  Intestine  commotions,  persecutions, 
wars,  internal  oppression,  or  outward  violence,  either,  therefore, 
altogether  destroy,  or,  at  least,  very  much  inqjair  the  strength  ot 
the  effective  desire  of  accumulation.  On  the  contrary,  they 
excite  the  inventive  faculty  to  activity.  The  excessive  propen- 
sity to  imitation,  which  is  natural  to  man,  seems  the  only  means 
by  which  we  can  account  for  this  diversity  of  effects.  Men  are 
so  much  given  to  learning,  that  they  do  not  readily  become  dis- 
coverers.    They  have  received  so  much,  that  they  do  not  easily 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  223 

perceive  the  need  of  making  additions  to  it,  or  readily  turn  the 
vigor  of  their  thoughts  in  that  direction.  '■  They  seem  neither 
to  know  well  their  possessions,  nor  their  powers ;  but  to  believe 
the  former  to  be  greater,  the  latter  less,  than  they  really  are.''* 
Whatever,  therefore,  breaks  the  wonted  order  of  events,  and 
exposes  the  necessity,  or  the  possibility,  of  connecting  them  by 
some  other  means,  strongly  stimulates  invention.  The  slumber- 
ing faculties  rouse  themselves  to  meet  the  unexpected  exigence, 
and  the  possibility  of  giving  a  new,  and  more  perfect  order  to 
elements  not  yet  fixed,  animates  to  a  boldness  of  enterprise,  which 
were  rashness,  had  they  assumed  their  determined  places.  Hence, 
as  has  often  been  remarked,  periods  of  great  changes  in  king- 
doms or  governments,  are  the  seasons  when  genius  breaks  forth 
in  brightest  lustre.  The  beneficial  effects  of  what  are  termed 
revolutions,  are,  perhaps,  chiefly  to  be  traced,  to  their  thus 
wakening  the  torpid  powers ;  the  troubling  of  the  waters  they 
bring  about,  undoes  the  palsy  of  the  mind. 

On  this  account  courafre  'disting-uishins;  well  between  things 
difficult  and  things  impossible,  and  calmly  estimating  them  not 
as  they  appear  to  vulgar  prejudices,  but  as  they  are,  seems  to  be 
a  necessary  element  in  the  composition  of  genius  of  a  high  order. 
Without  the  possession  of  such  a  faculty,  it  is  impossible  clearly 
to  discern  the  things  which  changes  have  brought  to  liglit  or  pro- 
duced, or  to  make  free  use  of  them.  The  comparison  which  Lord 
Bacon  makes  between  Alexander  the  Great  and  himself,  is  far 
from  being  forced.  Neither  could  have  accomplished  what  he  did, 
had  he  not  been  able  to  despise  what  had  only  a  vain  show,  and 
to  discover  and  trust  to  real  though  underrated  powers.f 

Besides  the  circumstances  determining  the  progress  of  inven- 

*  Novum  organum. 

t  ''  Atque  hac  in  parte  nobis  spondemusfortunam  Alexandri  Magni :  neque 
quis  nos  vanitatis  arguat,  antequam  exitum  rei  audiat,  qufe  ad  exuendam  om- 
neiu  vanitatem  spectat. 

"  Elenim  de  Alexandre  et  ejus  rebus  geslis  ^schines  ifa  loquutus  est : 
Nos  certe  vitani  mortaleni  non  vivimus  ;  sed  in  hoc  nati  s;umus,  ut  postetitas 
de  nobis  ponenia  narret  et  prcedicct :  peiinde  ac  si  Alexandri  res  gestas  pro 
miraculo  habuisset. 

"  At  eevis  sequentibus  Titus  Livius  melius  rem  advertit  et  introspexit,  atque 
de  Alexandre  hujusmodi  quippiam  dixit:  Eutn  non  aliud  quam  bene  ausum 
vana  contemnere.  Atque  simile  etiam  de  nobis  judicium  futuris  temporibus 
factum  iri  existimamus  :  Nos  nil  magni  fucisse,  sed  tantum  ea  quse  pro  magnis 
habentur.  minoris  fecisse." 


224  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

tion  arising  from  the  nature  of  man,  the  inventer,  there  areothers 
depending  on  the  modes  on  which  the  principles  of  that   nature 
are  excited-  to  exert  themselves   in   this  sphere  of  action,  and. 
gradually  to  discern  and   develope  the  qualities  and   powers,  of 
the  various  divisions  of  the  material  world. 

The  surface  of  the  earth  presents  a  vast  variety  of  materials. 
Soils,  climates,  minerals,  vegetables,  the  fish  of  the  waters,  the 
birds  of  the  air,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field,  are  endlessly  diversi- 
fied, and,  could  we  bring'  back  the  surface  of  the  globe  to  the 
state  in  which  it  existed  when  man  first  made  his  appearance  on 
it,  we  should  probably  scarcely  find  any  two  points  in  all  respects 
alike. 

This  diversity  of  materials  seems  to  have  been  the  great  ex- 
citing cause  to  the  progress  of  art  and  science,  men  having  been 
every  now  and  then  compelled  or  induced  to  adopt  new  materials, 
and,  as  they  changed  from  the  one  to  the  other,  to  have  been 
gradually  led  from  the  knowledge  of  the  most  simple  and  obvi- 
ous qualities,  and  powers,  to  a  perception  of  those  which  are 
more  complex,  and  difficult  to  discern. 

Tracing  any  invention  upwards  to  its  first  beginnings,  we  shall 
discover,  that  these  have  been  exceedingly  rude  and  imperfect, 
proceeding  from  the  simplest,  and  what  would  seem  to  us,  the 
most  obvious  observations  ;  and  that  it  has  advanced  towards 
perfection,  by  having  been  led  to  change  the  materials  with  which 
it  originally  operated,  and  passing  from  one  to  another,  has  at 
each  step  of  its  progress  discovered  new  qualities  and  acquired 
new  powers. 

1  believe  a  lengthened  inquiry  into  the  history  of  inventions 
would  lead  to  the  following  conclusions  :  — 

1st.  Arts  change  materials.  It  havino-  become  difficult  or 
impossible  for  men  to  obtain  the  materials  with  which  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  operate,  they  have  been  led  to  adopt  others, 
and,  retaining  the  knowledge  of  the  qualities  and  powers  of  the 
old,  have  added  to  them  those  of  the  new. 

2d.  Different  arts  adopt  the  same  materials.  Men  have  been 
encouraged  to  operate  with  new  materials,  from  materials  being 
presented  to  them,  evidently  better  suited  to  their  purposes  than 
the  old,  could  they  be  niade  submissive  to  their  art. 

3d.  The  operation  of  these  circumstances,  has  slowly  dimin- 
ished the  propensity  of  mankind  to  servile  imitation,  and  given  a 


i 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  ^HS 

begifining  to  science,  by  bringing  to  ligiit  the  qualities  and  pow- 
■  ers  common  to  many  materials  ;  the  general  principles  of  thino-s. 

The  limited  objects  of  the  pi'esent  inquiry,  however,  forbid 
our  entering  into  the  lengthened  train  of  speculation,  that  would 
be  necessary  fully  to  establish  jjiese  conclusions  by  an  adequate 
investigation  of  the  progress  of  inventions.  I  shall  content  my- 
self with  adducing  a  sufficient  number  of  instances  to  show,  that 
this  continual  change  has  been  a  circumstance  operating  very 
beneficially  and  efficiently,  in  enlarging  the  bounds  of  human 
knowledge  and  power. 

When  men  are  deprived  of  the  materials  with  which  they 
used  to  operate  in  the  production  of  Necessaries,  and  between 
them  and  want  have  only  such  as  are  similar,  but  not  the  same, 
one  of  two  things  must  happen.  They  must  either  conquer  the 
difficulties  of  the  new  matter,  or  must  perish.  In  the  earlier 
ages  of  the  world,  it  is  scarce  to  be  doubted,  that  the  latter  event 
was  of  not  unfrequent  occurrence.  Tribes  forced  from  tlieir 
homes  by  more  powerful  tribes,  must  have  been  often  led  by  hope, 
or  driven  by  despair,  into  regions  that  had  not  before  yielded  to 
the  dominion  of  man.  But,  the  materials  which  different  regions 
present  to  human  industry,  are  very  seldom  precisely  alike.  The 
new  would  differ  from  the  old,  in  being  in  some  respects  worse, 
in  otherS  better  adapted  to  its  purposes,  than  they.  The  difficul- 
ties are  much  more  apparent  than  the  benefits,  the  former  havin^ 
generally  to  be  overcome,  before  tl^e  latter  be  apprehended,  or 
distinctly  perceived.  The  attempt,  then,  would  probably  never 
be  made,  but  for  the  promptings  of  necessity.  Its  success  has 
two  advantages.  The  subjection  of  the  obstacles  carries  the 
inventive  faculty  a  step  farther  forward ;  the  larger  returns  made, 
owin^  to  the  circumstances  in  which  the  new  material  is  superior, 
iocrease  the  rewards  of  industry.  As  the  success  of  the  attempt 
would  advance  the  skill  and  the  power  of  those  who  made  it,  so 
its  failure  would  abandon  them  to  famine.  In  the  former  case, 
the  individuals  whose  intelligence  and  courage  overcame  the 
obstacles,  would  be  exalted  by  posterity  into  gods,  and  demi- 
gods, in  the  latter,  the  field  would  remain  open  to  more  success- 
ful essays,  in  other  times,  and  by  other  races.  An  inquiry, 
however,  into  the  progress  of  the  arts  essential  to  the  existence 
of  man  in  any  form  of  society,  would  carry  us  back  to  ages  too 
remote,  and  involved  in  an  obscurity  too  deep  to  penetrate. 

29 


226  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

None  of  the  arts  which  are  not  necessary  to  the  preservation 
ol'  human  existence  itself,  has  probably  had  greater  influence  on 
the  modes  which  that  existence  has  assumed,  than  metallurgy. 
Without  the  metals,  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  series  of  in- 
struments to  be  continued  from  which  the  wants  of  civilized 
society  are  supplied,  and  without  them,  consequently,  mankind 
could  never  have  emerged  from  barbarism.  There  are  few  arts, 
either,  in  which  the  processes  have  probably  at  first  been  more 
rude,  in  which  they  have  ultimately  attained  greater  perfection 
of  skill,  or  in  which  the  progress  has  been  more  gradual,  and 
more  dependent  for  its  advance  on  the  variety  of  the  materials 
operated  upon.  Some  metals  are  found  in  quantity  pure,  the  ores 
of  some  are  easily  reduced,  of  others  with  great  difficulty.  Of  all 
the  substances  he  attempts  to  classify,  none,  from  their  number  and 
variety,  give  greater  trouble  to  the  mineralogist.  The  discovery  of 
the  qualities  of  such  portions  of  these  metals  as  were  found  pure, 
would  soon  make  them  be  considered  as  the  most  useful  of  substances, 
and  occasion  their  being  sought  after  with  avidity.  The  supply 
of  them  in  this  state  being  exhausted,  or  they  who  had  employed 
them  moving  into  regions  where  they  could  no  longer  be  found, 
recourse  would  gradually  be  had  to  the  more  pure  and  more 
easily  reduced  ores,  and  from  thence  to  metals,  and  ores  wrought 
with  greater  difficulty.  Thus  we  find  that  gold,  silver,  and  copper, 
the  metals  that  most  frequently  occur  native,  were  those  first  in 
use ;  iron  came  last,  and  was  probably  then  esteemed  the  most 
precious.  Weapons  of  gold  and  silver  were  edged  with  it,  in 
the  same  manner  as  were  wooden  implements,  such  as  the  old 
English  spade,  in  more  recent  days.  But  for  the  gentleness  of 
the  ascent,  it  is  altogether  likely,  that  the  art  would  never  have 
attained  the  eminence  it  has  gained.  Had  the  earth,  for  instance, 
possessed  no  metallic  stores  but  the  more  abundant  ores  of  iron, 
by  far  the  most  useful  in  the  present  days,  it  seems  not  unlikely, 
that  no  metal  would  ever  have  been  wrought.  The  steps  by 
which  it  rose,  were,  however,  too  numerous,  and  the  vestiges 
left  of  them  are  too  indistinct,  for  me  to  attempt  here  to  trace 
them,  were  1  even  prepared  so  to  do.  I  prefer  rather,  in  illus- 
tration of  the  subject,  to  refer  to  an  art  which  has  been  in  prac- 
tice for  thousands  of  years,  and  to  an  implement  in  daily  use. 

The  plough,  in  its  most  simple  form,  is  an  instrument,  the  in- 
vention of  whicli  would  naturally  follow  the  domestication  of  the 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  227 

OX  species.  Men  accustomed  to  loosen,  and  stir  the  earth,  with 
the  inefficient  implements  of  that  ancient  period,  could  scarce  in 
time,  fail  to  remark,  that  the  sluggish  strength  of  this  animal 
might  aid  them  in  the  operation.  They  seem  to  have  turned  it 
to  this  purpose,  by  a  very  simple  contrivance.  A  long  crooked 
sapling,  similar  to  the  clubs  used  by  boys  in  some  of  their  games, 
but  larger,  had  its  thick,  curved  end,  sharpened  to  a  point,  and 
its  other  extremity  attached  to  something  like  what  is  now  called 
a  yoke,  coupling  two  oxen  by  the  neck.  The  long  straight  part 
of  the  implement,  passed  between  the  animals,  the  part  turned 
downwards  rested  on  the  earth  behind  them,  and  when  they 
moved  forward,  along  soil  very  easily  impressed,  would  mark  it 
with  a  furrow,  which  might  be  deepened  by  a  man  walking  close 
after,  and  pressing  it  downwards.  He  was  assisted  in  this  ope- 
ration, by  the  addition  of  a  handle  projecting  upwards,  the  point 
was  hardened  by  the  action  of  the  fire,  and  another  person  guided 
the  oxen.  Such  was  probably  the  earliest  plough,  and  those  that 
are  used  in  many  parts  of  the  east,  to  this  day,  differ  not  much 
from  it,  with  the  exception  of  the  point  being  defended  by  a  sort 
of  iron  tooth,  and  the  wood  not  having  a  natural,  but  an  artificial 
curvature.  In  Java,  a  man,  when  he  has  done  his  day's  work, 
carries  home  his  plough  on  his  shoulder,  as  a  woodman  does  his 
axe.  The  defects  of  such  an  implement  are  to  us  very  plain. 
It  only  scratches  the  soil,  it  cannot  make  what  we  call  a  furrow, 
and  it  is  only  very  light,  sandy  soil,  or  the  sort  of  mud,  in  which 
rice  is  cultivated,  on  which  it  is  at  all  capable  of  acting.  As  the 
quantity  of  this  sort  of  soil  is,  in  all  parts  of  the  world  limited, 
men  were  gradually  forced  to  attempt  the  tillage  of  land  more 
difficult  to  subdue.  Over  the  greater  part  of  Asia,  they  have 
done  so,  by  a  simple  enlargement  and  strengthening  of  the  first 
rude  implement.  The  model  immediately  before  their  eyes 
seems  to  have  so  confined  their  powers  of  invention,  that  they 
attempted  no  change  but  this.  In  that  part  of  the  world,  if  we 
except  China,  and  the  countries  bordering  on  Europe,  the  earth 
is  consequently  scratched,  or  at  best  stirred,  it  is  not  in  our  sense 
of  the  word  ploughed.  The  improvements  which  we  have  made 
in  the  operation  are  two  fold ;  the  first  concerns  the  effect  pro- 
duced on  the  soil,  and  the  second,  the  ease  with  which  it  is  pro- 
duced. The  furrow  we  form  makes  each  portion  of  soil  operated 
upon,  describe  about  one  third  of  a  cji"'"'e.  thu"?   blending  all  the 


228  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

parts  of  the  surface  together,  leaving  it  very  open,  and  placing 
the  vegetable  fibres  in  the  position  best  suited  to  induce  decay. 
The  turn  too,  thus  given,  to  each  portion,  puts  it  out  of  the  way 
of  the  next,  which  is  therefore,  with  comparative  ease,  moved 
into  its  proper  position. 

It  seems  not  to  have  been,  until  the  instrument  got  to  Europe, 
that  it  assumed  a  form  capable  of  executing  such  an  operation. 
Such  was  probably  the  Roman  plough,  the  wood-work  of  which 
is  thus  described  by  Virgil. 

"  Continuo  in  sylvis  magna  vi  flexa  domatur 
In  burini,  et  curvi  formam  accipit  ulmus  aratri, 
Huci  a  stirpe  pedes  teino  protentus  in  octo, 
Binse  aures,  duplici  aptantur  dentalia  dorso. 
Caeditur  et  tilia  ante  jugo  levis,  altaque  fagus, 
Stivaqae,  quae  currusa  tergo  torqueat  iinos  ; 
Et  suspensa  focis  explorat  robora  fumus. 

"  An  elm  bent  with  great  strength  in  the  woods,  is  forced  into 
a  buris  and  receives  the  form  of  the  crooked  plough.  To  it 
are  fitted  the  temo  stretched  out  eight  feet  from  the  lower  end, 
the  two  aures,  the  dentalia  with  the  double  back,  and  the  stiva 
which  bends  the  lower  part  of  the  plough  behind.  The  light 
elm  tree  is  fitted  beforehand,  for  the  yoke,  and  the  lofty  beech 
for  the  other  parts,  and  the  smoke  seasons  the  wood  hung  up 
above  the  fire."* 

I  see  not  that  this  buris,  which  has  given  some  of  the 
commentators  a  little  trouble,  can  be  any  thing  else  than  the 
original  crooked  sapling,  here  swollen  to  a  large  elm  knee,  form- 
ing the  body  of  the  plough,  ''  inflexi  grave  robur  aratri,  and 
to  which,  all  the  other  parts  are  appended.  From  it,  instead  of 
the  longer  straight  part  of  the  sapling,  stretched  forward,  a  sepa- 
rate piece,  termed  the  temo  or  pole,  and  the  stiva,  or  handle,  was 
retained.  So  far  there  was  very  litde  difference  from  the  ori- 
ginal instrument,  but  in  the  aures,  the  ears,  we  have  the  begin- 
nings of  the  mould  board,  and  there  is  a  place  for  the  reception 
of  the  vomer,  the  large  cutting  iron  share.  These  appendages, 
the  more  difficult  soil  of  some  parts  of  Italy  probably  introduced, 
and  when  adopted  in  one  part,  they  could  scarce  fail  to  spread 
over  it  all. 

The  plough  thus  changed  into  an  instrument  for  turning  over, 

^  George  I.  170.  tranislated  by  Dickson,  ancient  husbandry. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  229 

not  merely  stirring  the  soil,  was  carried  by  the  Romans  into 
other,  and  more  northern  regions,  and  transmitted  to  other  races. 
These  and  subsequent  revolutions,  obliterated  the  imitation  of 
the  original  curved  sapling.  The  curve  became  an  angle,  form- 
ed by  a  short  downright  beam  or  pillar,  the  sheath  or  forehead, 
fitted  into  the  shortened  pole  or  temo,  and  bearing,  as  before,  the 
chief  stress  of  the  draft.  Greater  symmetry  and  lightness  were 
thus  given  to  it.  The  mould  board  gradually  attained  its  present 
form,  the  coulter  and  another  handle  were  added.  In  recent 
days,  it  has  been  made  nearly  altogether  of  iron.  In  Britain, 
where  this  revolution  in  the  material  was  introduced,  it  is  de- 
serving of  notice  that  the  metal  implement,  only  that  its  parts 
are  slenderer,  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  wooden  one.  There  is 
yet  too  the  sheath.  In  some,  at  least,  of  the  American  iron 
ploughs,  the  sole  connexion  between  the  upper  and  lower  parts, 
unless  that  given  by  the  mould  boards  themselves,  is  a  strong 
bolt  screwing  tight.  For  a  plough  of  such  materials,  this  last 
metamorphosis  of  the  original  sapling  or  buris,  would  seem  the 
better  construction. 

Thus,  the  moving  of  this  implement  from  one  region  and 
people  to  another,  the  consequent  adaptation  of  it  to  different 
and 'more  difficult  soils,  and  the  change  of  the  materials  of  which 
it  is  formed,  seem  to  have  been  the  occasions  of  its  successive 
improvement.  They  have  stimulated  the  faculty  of  invention, 
and  weakened  the  propensity  to  servile  imitation.  The  instru- 
ment, so  changed,  it  may  be  remarked,  is  on  its  return  to  coun- 
tries in  which,  perhaps,  it  first  assumed  form.  English  ploughs 
are  to  be  seen  in  India,  and  some  modification  of  them,  must,  in 
time,  become  the  general  plough  of  the  country. 

Our  next  example,  of  the  effects  of  these  circumstances  on 
the  developement  of  the  inventive  faculty,  will  be  taken  from  the 
progress  of  sacred  architecture.  It  conspicuously  exhibits  the 
strength  of  the  principle  itself,  and  the  trammels  by  which  its 
energies  are  sometimes  confined. 

When  men  worship  the  deity,  they  find  their  devotional 
dispositions  assisted  by  the  presence  of  external  objects,  par- 
taking of  his  attributes.  Thus,  whatever  brings  sensibly  be- 
fore us  the  ideas  of  very  great  power,  and  unlimited  duration, 
fills  the  mind  with  thoughts  that  are  very  near  akin  to  devotion. 
Hence,  men  in  almost  all  ages  and  countries,  have  either  made 


230  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

choice  of  particular  natural  objects,  inspiring  such  ideas,  as  con- 
comitants of  their  devotions  ;  they  have  worshipped  turning  to 
the  sun,  or  in  groves,  or  on  the  tops  of  mountains ;  or  they  have 
formed  things,  having  in  their  conceptions  a  sort  of  unison,  in 
this  way,  with  the  object  of  their  worship. 

Of  all  the  people  who  have  employed  themselves  in  forma- 
tions of  this  sort,  and  devoted  a  portion  of  their  industry  to  the 
construction  of  instruments  serving,  in  some  degree,  to  satisfy 
those  natural  longings  of  the  human  mind  after  somethins;  brino;- 
ing  before  it  the  perfections  of  the  deity,  none  have  been  more 
eminently  successful  than  the  Egyptians.  The  suddenness  with 
which  the  art  there  attained  an  excellence,  that  even  now  com- 
mands our  fullest  admiration,  is  a  phenomenon  well  deserving 
the  attention  of  speculators  on  the  extent  ef  the  human  powers 
when  roused  to  free  and  active  exertion. 

Several  circumstances  seem  to  have  contributed  to  determine 
the  form,  which  architecture  there  assumed,  and  to  carry  it  at 
once  from  infancy  to  maturity. 

One  of  the  manifestations  of  power  most  apt  to  attract  the 
notice  of  men  in  the  early  stages  of  society,  as  very  great,  is  the 
moving  of  large  blocks  of  stone.  To  men  altogether  ignorant 
of  the  n)echanic  powers,  however  strong  and  numerous,  to  move 
a  cubic  stone  of  the  weight  of  only  two  tons  would  be  impossi- 
ble ;  for,  enough  of  them  could  not  get  hold  of  it.  To  men 
again,  having  made  a  progress  in  art,  aware  of  the  advantage, 
for  instance,  of  the  lever,  though  it  might  be  practicable  to  move 
into  an  upright  position,  pillars  of  even  a  few  tons  weight,  such 
objects  would  seem  very  striking  displays  of  power.  They 
would  also  impress  them  with  the  ideas  of  extended  duration, 
which  the  indestructible  nature  of  the  material,  is  calculated  to 
produce.  Accordingly  we  find  that  the  erection  of  such  columnar 
masses,  has  been  a  very  common  act  of  men,  in  rude  states  of 
society,  in  their  efforts  to  draw  themselves  near  to  some  concep- 
tion they  have  had  of  the  great  first  cause. 

But  it  is  not  mere  blind  power,  and  eternal  duration,  that  is 
attributed  to  the  deity,  besides  this,  all  men  ascribe  to  him  un- 
erring wisdom,  and  most  men,  boundless  benevolence.  Regu- 
larity of  design,  then,  especially  if  combined  with  visible  utility, 
renders  any  object  of  great  and  changeless  power,  more  fitting 
to  inspire  religious  sentiments.     On  this  account  the  sun,  of  all 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  331 

objects  continually  before  our  eyes,  is  that  most  generally  turned 
to  with  religious  feelings. 

Symmetry  of  design  may  be  given  to  collections  of  columns, 
by  preserving  them  at  regular  distances,  and  forming  them  into 
circular,  or  straight  lines.  The  circles  of  the  Druids  in  Scotland, 
and  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  are  examples  of  this  sort  of  form. 
Greater  unity  would  be  given  to  an  erection  of  this  sort,  by  the 
addition  of  horizontal  pieces,  stretching  from  the  top  of  the 
one  pillar  to  that  of  the  other,  and  partially  roofing  in  the  fabric. 
Such  an  addition  would  also  heighten  the  motion  of  power  em- 
bodied in  the  work.  The  poising  large  masses  of  stone  on  the 
summits  of  elevated  columns,  must  have  appeared  a  stupendous 
exertion  of  power,  to  those  w^ho  first  contemplated  it.  Such 
seems  to  have  been  the  character  of  the  famous  druidical  tetnple 
of  Stonehenge.  A  form  similar  to  this,  would  therefore  seem 
likely  to  be  that,  which  the  ancient  Egyptians  must  have  been 
inclined  to  give  the  religious  edifices  they  constructed,  when 
leaving  the  higher  grounds,  they  began  to  descend  and  occupy 
the  plains,  and  such  is,  in  fact,  the  general  outline  which  the  ruins 
of  their  edifices  yet  present.  But  they  possessed  arts,  which" 
enabled  them  to  give  their  edifices  a  degree  of  grandeur,  far 
superior  to  the  rude  structures  of  the  ancient  Britons. 

They  were  probably  either  themselves  workers  of  stone,  or 
had  the  means  of  knowing  how  stone  may  be  wrought.  The 
more  ancient  Troglodytes  w^ere  perfect  in  the  art  of  cutting  stone. 
Their  labors  were  confined,  however,  to  forming  excavations  in 
rock,  they  do  not  seem  to  have  ever  thought  of  dividing  these 
rocks  into  fragments,  and  again  reuniting  them  into  some  required 
form.  Indeed,  this  is  an  idea,  that  could  not  very  readily  occur 
as  a  means  of  facilitating  the  formation  of  structures  of  the  sort. 
Here,  as  in  other  instances,  the  beginnings  of  art  are  simple,  but 
laborious.  It  is  invention  that  abridges  the  amount  of  labor 
necessary  for  attaining  the  end,  and  substitutes  skill  and  contriv- 
ance, for  toil  and  perseverance.  A  sort  of  necessity,  brought 
about  by  the  occupation  of  a  new  region,  and  the  desire  to  have 
rocky  edifices  on  the  alluvial  plane,  probably  led  the  Egyptians 
to  effect  this  revolution. 

The  possession  of  another  art,  made  it  of  less  difficult  execu- 
tion. Egypt,  a  long  level  valley  periodically  overflowed,  afford- 
ed  peculiar  facilities  for  the  transport  by  water,  of  even   the 


232  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

heaviest  articles.  The  largest  masses  separated  from  the  rocks 
that  bordered  the  great  canal,  into  which  it  was  transformed  dur- 
ing the  time  of  the  inundation,  iiad  only  to  be  moved  to  rafts 
stationed  close  by,  when  they  could  be  transported  to  any  required 
situation.  The  riches  also  of  that  celebrated  valley,  then  proba- 
bly recently  exposed  to  human  industry  by  the  retiring  waters, 
and  which  the  efforts  of  fifty  centuries  have  not  yet  exhausted, 
gave  the  inventive  faculty  as  hs  instrument,  an  almost  unlimited 
command  of  labor.  Genius  was  not  wanting  to  reach  lofty  con- 
ceptions, or  to  apply  the  means  put  in  its  hands  so  as  to  give  them 
an  adequate  form.  The  works  it  produced,  were  the  admiration 
of  antiquity,  and  are  the  astonishment  of  modern  times. 

Architecture,  with  the  other  arts  of  Egypt,  was  carried  to 
Greece.  It  retained,  nevertheless,  the  same  essential  character, 
the  effects  it  produced  arising  from  the  magnitude  and  propor- 
tions of  massive  blocks,  arranged  in  columns  and  transverse  pieces. 
A  comparison  of  the  two,  does  not  give  the  one  much  superiority 
over  the  other.  Both  possess  sublimity  and  unity  of  design, 
and  beauty  of  execution,  and  if  the  Grecian  has  greater  elegance, 
the  Egyptian  has  greater  grandeur.  But  if  the  colony  did  not 
much  excel  the  parent  country  in  architecture,  there  is  no 
comparison  between  them  in  the  sister  art  of  sculpture.  Archi- 
tecture and  statuary  were  combined  by  the  ancient  Egyptians. 
The  earliest  human  figures  cut  in  stone,  that  have  come  down 
to  us,  are  those  executed  by  them,  on  their  columnar  fabricSr 
They  represent  the  human  body,  in  one  position.  The  arms 
close  to  the  trunk,  the  legs  close  to  each  other,  the  back 
applied  to  the  block,  of  wdiich  the  statue  is  a  part.  This 
position  of  the  body  forms  evidently  the  most  easy  design, 
which  a  novice  in  the  art,  when  first  attempting  to  shape  in 
stone  some  representation  of  the  human  figure,  could  conceive. 
That  the  Egyptian  artists  should  have  commenced  with  such 
figures,  seems  natural  enough,  but  that,  after  having  learned 
to  execute  the  prodigious  and  highly  finished  works  in  statu- 
ary, which  they  have  left,  they  should  still  have  adhered  to 
this  position,  can  only,  I  appreh&nd,  be  explained  from  the  in- 
fluence of  the  spirit  of  imitation.  The  achievements  of  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  in  the  whole  art  of  shaping  stone  into  forms 
giving  the  ideas  of  sublimity  and  beauty,  may  well  be  supposed 
to  have  filled  the  minds  of  their  descendants  with  awe  and  admi- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  233 

ration,  since  their  remains  so  powerfully  affect  even  men  of  the 
present  day  with  these  sentiments.  It  is  scarcely  in  human 
nature  greatly  to  admire  any  productions  of  genius,  and  to  form 
others  much  surpassing  them.  Under  the  influence  of  such  a 
sentiment,  men  are  rather  inclined  to  confine  their  efforts  to 
making  additions,  than  to  exert  them  in  attempting  alterations, 
prudence  whispering,  that  the  former  will  be  received  as  sufKcient 
proof  of  their  capacity,  while  the  latter  might  be  censured  as 
proceeding  from  their  arrogance.  When  a  certain  point  has 
once  been  gained,  future  artists  seek  the  principles  of  their  ope- 
rations, not  in  the  powers  of  nature  and  of  man,  but,  in  what 
they  term  the  rules  of  art.  These  rules  seem  to  have  effectu- 
ally confined  the  art  of  statuary,  as  far  as  the  human  figure  was 
concerned,  to  the  limits  marked  out  by  the  first  essays.  Even 
figures  in  porcelain  had  the  same  character,  an  appendix  being 
put  to  the  back,  indicative  of  the  original  stone  block.  The 
restraining  influence  of  the  spirit  of  imitation,  is  rendered  more 
remarkable,  from  the  figures  of  the  inferior  animals  being  execut- 
ed with  considerable  spirit. 

When  the  art  was  transferred  to  Greece,  the  chanse  of  coun- 
try  undid  its  trammels,  and  its  productions  assumed  all  the  life, 
grace  and  beauty,  which  varying  and  natural  attitudes  bestow. 

The  mechanical  part  of  architecture  underwent  a  revolution 
among  the  nations  that  were  finally  consohdated  into  the  Roman 
Empire,  by  the  adoption  of  the  arch,  and  the  employment  of 
cement.  The  Egyptians  and  Grecians  were  stone-cutters  ;  the 
Romans,  masons.  The  spirit  of  imitation  prevented  this  change 
in  the  material  part,  from  producing,  immediately,  a  correspond- 
ent change  in  the  ideal.  Under  the  Romans,  the  arch  and  the 
column  were  combined.  It  was  not  until  after  the  ruin  of  the 
Empire,  when  architecture  recommenced  among  other  races,  that 
it  assumed  a  new  form,  correspondent  to  the  change  in  the 
mechanical  part,  and  suited  to  the  purposes  and  times. 

AVhen  arts,  other  than  those  of  their  native  wilds,  first  began 
to  be  any  thing  to  our  rude  ancestors,  the  art  of  the  mason,  re- 
cei-ved  by  them  from  the  Romans,  was  properly  the  capacity  of 
shaping  a  stony  mass  into  a  form,  realizing  some  of  their  ima- 
ginations, from  materials,  which  could  be  easily  transported  to 
the  point  required.  While  the  Egyptians  and  Grecians  had  had 
to  apply  their  powers  to,  cnanging   the  figures  and  positions  of 

30 


234  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

masses  of  rocks,  they  possessed  the  art  of  constructing  a  rocky 
mass.  The  instrument  of  the  former  was  the  chisel,  to  carve 
into  shape,  of  the  latter,  lime,  to  work  out  to  shape.  The  be- 
ginnings of  the  former  art  in  Africa,  and  of  the  latter  in  Europe, 
are  marked  by  the  same  lavish  expenditure  of  human  labor, 
though  in  different  modes.  In  the  former,  the  human  hand, 
slowly,  by  dint  of  strokes  intermitted  not  for  generations,  dug 
out  caves,  or  carved  pillars.  In  the  latter,  also,  the  human  hand 
cemented  small  fragments  of  rock  to  small  fragments,  till  in  the 
lapse  of  years,  the  mass  gradually  swelled  out  into  some  desired 
form.  The  extent  of  the  operations  of  the  one  was  limited, 
by  the  powers  of  industry,  to  put  large  blocks  and  columns  of 
stone  into  the  requisite  positions,  and  by  the  strength  and  dura- 
bility of  these  materials.  The  operations  of  the  other  again, 
were  limited,  solely,  by  the  cohesive  qualities  of  the  mass  it 
formed.  The  effect  at  which  both  aimed,  grandeur,  the  union 
of  power,  durability,  and  useful  design,  was  mainly  produced  in 
the  former,  by  the  vastness  and  symmetry  of  the  several  parts, 
in  the  latter,  by  the  same  qualities  combined  in  a  whole. 

The  art  was  probably  at  first  applied  in  modern  Europe,  to 
the  construction  of  places  of  strength.  Solidity  to  resist  the 
battering  engines,  height  to  prevent  the  fortress  being  scaled,  and 
the  advantage  of  having  scope  to  annoy  the  besiegers,  produced 
the  massive  battlemented  towers  and  castles  of  the  ancient 
barons.  As  its  materials  were  the  most  durable,  principles  to 
which  we  have  already  adverted,  soon  led  to  its  application  to 
structures  devoted  to  the  purposes  of  religion. 

A  plain  wall  of  small  stones  and  lime  may  convey  the  idea  of 
durability,  but  only  in  a  slight  degree,  that  of  power  or  design. 
A  circular  or  angular  column  of  the  same  materials,  if  very  ele- 
vated, is  better  fitted  for  these  ends,  but  still,  is  far  inferior  to  one 
composed  of  a  solid  block.  A  lofty  stone  arch,  again,  is  one  of 
the  most  striking  displays  of  power  that  human  art  exhibits. 
The  aspect  of  a  mass  so  ponderous,  hanging  thus  securely  in 
high  air,  fixes  the  attention,  and  fills  the  mind  with  awe.  It  is, 
accordingly,  by  a  skilful  management  of  the  arch,  that  the  gran- 
deur of  effect  of  what  we  term  the  Gothic  architecture,  is  chiefly 
produced.  All  the  other  parts  are  subordinate  to  it,  and  confined 
within  the  smallest  limits  sufficient  to  bring  out  its  powers.  In 
the  more  perfect  specimens,  there  is  no  dead  wall ;  a  congeries 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  235 

of  lofty  arches,  supported  on  short,  or  slender  pillars,  is  wrought  into 
a  mafrnificent  and  beautiful  whole.  The  feehng  of  admiration  here 
springs  from  the  consideration  of  the  power  manifested,  in  main- 
taining in  its  place  the  whole  high  and  hanging  fabric ;  whereas, 
in  the  Grecian  architecture,  it  rather  arises  from  a  perception  of 
that  displayed  in  the  formation  and  elevation  of  each  separate 
member. 

The  progress  towards  perfection,  of  this  order  of  architecture, 
was  much  more  slow,  considering  that  it  scarcely  ever  remained 
wholly  stationary,  than  was  that  of  the  Grecian,  for  it  is,  in  reality, 
far  more  difficult.  Several  causes  contributed  to  its  advance. 
The  great  extent  of  country  over  which  its  elements  were  dif- 
fused, occasioned  the  use  of  various  sorts  of  stone,  and  produced 
the  advanta2;eous  effects  arising  from  a  continual  change  of  ma- 
terials.  The  art  of  the  mason  improved,  strength  was  obtained 
by  joining  stones  into  one  another,  rather  than  by  cementing  them 
together.  The  use  of  freestone,  a  rock  easily  brought  into  shape, 
probably  had  considerable  effect  in  producing  this  improvement. 
The  architect  was  thus  enabled  to  bring  out,  in  greater  fineness, 
all  the  parts  of  his  fabric.  The  feelings  of  men,  also,  set  towards 
the  pursuit.  Kings,  nobles,  a  proud  and  powerful  priesthood, 
stood  ready  to  reward  and  applaud  its  successfal  creations,  and 
assembled  multitudes  gazed  on  them  in  silent  and  deHghted 
admiration.  It  has  been  truly  said,  that  it  formed  much  of  the 
poetry  of  the  age.  In  the  want  of  other  species  of  intellectual 
excitement,  men  were  needs  very  strongly  moved  by  an  art,  that 
thus  wrought  on  stone  and  lime,  they  knew  not  how,  to  pourtray 
some  of  the  deepest  feelings  of  their  hearts.  It  seems  to  have 
been  only  slightly  retarded,  by  a  propensity  to  servile  imitation. 
The  various  kingdoms  into  which  Europe  was  split,  and  the  dif- 
ficulty of  intercourse  amongst  them,  gave  courage  to  the  artists, 
who  were  themselves  the  greatest  travellers,  to  attempt  works 
firom  which  they  would  have  shrunk,  had  those  who  were  to 
judge  of  them  had  easy  access  'to  established  models.  Never- 
theless, there  is  a  fact,  which  shows  that  the  oppressive  influence 
of  this  principle  was  far  from  inert.  The  epochs  of  the  most 
rapid  advances  of  the  Gothic  architecture,  were  the  periods  suc- 
ceeding the  conquest  of  kingdoms  by  new  races.  This  circum- 
stance has  given  occasion,  to  several,  to  conjecture,  that  it  stands 
indebted  to  the  knowledge  of  its  principles,  which  some  of  these 


236  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

conquerors  brought  with  them.  The  supposition  is  improbable  ; 
we  have  no  reason  to  beheve  that  they  brought  any  thing  else, 
than  what  necessarily  belonged  to  such  men,  a  bold  and  untram- 
meled  spirit.  This,  indeed,  is  an  essential  element,  and  one,  as 
we  have  seen,  of  great  power  in  the  composition  of  genius.  It 
was  thus,  that  the  prominent  defects  of  the  art  under  the  Anglo 
Saxons,  an  exuberance  of  dead  wall,  and  want  of  elevation,  were 
remedied  by  the  Normans.  The  Saracens  in  Spain,  wrought 
also  a  similar  change. 

At  no  preceding  period,  did  there  exist  men,  so  much  given 
to  the  erection  of  permanent  structures  as  modern  Europeans, 
and  their  American  descendants.  Their  command  of  materials, 
their  resources  of  power,  are  by  much  superior  to  those  possess- 
ed by  any  antecedent  people.  It  is  certainly,  then,  surprising, 
that  they  should  be  servile  copyists,  of  the  arts  of  those  whom 
they  fitly  look  on,  compared  with  themselves,  as  barbarians.  I 
apprehend  we  can  only  explain  the  phenomenon,  from  the  influ- 
ence of  the  instinct  of  imitation.  The  extended  intercourse 
between  all  parts  of  the  world,  the  diffusion  of  the  products  of 
book-making,  and  of  picture-making,  render  us  familiar  with 
existing  models  of  all  sorts.  An  artist,  therefore,  who  has  to 
construct  any  great  edifice,  finds  it  safest  to  copy  from  some 
one  whose  merits  have  been  acknowledged,  and  takes  the  measure 
of  a  Grecian  temple,  or  Gothic  church.  Thus,  at  least,  he  covers 
himself  from  censure.  Hence  it  is,  that  we  so  often  see,  in  the 
cold  foggy  climate  of  Britain,  or  in  the  boisterous  one  of  North 
America,  an  imitation  of  some  structure  that  had  been  admired 
in  Greece.  The  claims  to  admiration  which  the  copy  possesses, 
fall,  however,  far  short  of  the  original.  In  the  first  place,  it 
wants  that  evidence  of  perfect  design,  which  arises  from  the 
complete,  and  easy  accomplishment  of  a  purpose.  What  an- 
swered the  mild  climate,  and  serene  skies  of  Greece,  is  felt  to 
be  inconvenient,  and  therefore  defective,  elsewhere.  Next,  it  is 
most  probably  a  very  deficient  copy.  The  effect  of  the  Grecian 
structures,  depends,  as  we  have  seen,  in  their  consisting  of  large 
masses  of  stone.  Our  imitations  are  probably  the  work  of  the 
mason,  or  possibly  the  plasterer,  and  convey,  therefore,  no  idea  of 
power,  the  very  essence  which  it  is  desired  to  embody.  There 
is  hence,  also,  generally,  a  failure  in  the  execution.  When  the 
mind  is  full  of  any  great  idea,  it  knows  when  it  has  got  an  ade- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  237 

quale  expression  for  it,  and  rests  not  satisfied  until  it  has  fitly, 
and  accurately  embodied  it.  But,  if  this  great  presiding  idea 
be  wanting,  there  is  nothing  within,  distinguishing  the  right  from 
the  wrong,  or  preventing  the  commission  of  the  greatest  errors. 
Our  mason-work  and  plastered  fabrics,  are  consequently,  often 
masses  of  incongruities. 

Our  choice  of  Gothic  models,  for  similar  reasons,  generally  fails 
as  completely.  A  large  cathedral,  indeed,  must  be  admired  any 
where,  but  this  is  too  great  a  work  to  be  attempted.  A'  copy  is 
probably  taken,  from  some  chapel.  We  forget,  that  what  was  ad- 
mirable for  its  purpose  in  some  small  ancient  rustic  hamlet,  is  out 
of  place  in  our  cities ;  that  the  arches,  which,  to  simple  peasants, 
living  in  huts,  seemed  magnificent,  to  the  chieftain,  issuing  for  a 
time  from  his  naked  fortalice,  elegant,  must  appear  mean,  and 
insignificant,  to  those,  whose  halls  are  nearly  as  lofty ;  and,  that 
the  whole  pinnacled  and  buttressed  structure,  crowded  on  and 
perhaps  overtopped,  by  square  unseemly  buildings,  devoted  to 
meaner  uses,  shows  among  them,  trifling,  and  fantastic,  like  a  toy 
erected  to  please  children. 

II.  The  examples  we  have  hitherto  considered,  are  of  the 
same  arts  changing  materials.  Those  which  we  have  now  to 
attend  to,  are  of  different  arts  adopting  the  same,  or  similar  ma- 
terials. When  arts  are  brought  together,  they  borrow  from  each 
other.  Men  perceive  that  some  materials,  or  instruments,  or 
processes,  employed  in  the  one,  could  they  be  transferred  to  the 
other,  would  be  the  cause  of  its  yielding  larger  returns.  They 
are  encouraged,  therefore,  to  attempt  the  change,  and  experi- 
ence shows,  that  such  attempts  perseveringly  pursued,  are  gen- 
erally successful. 

Efforts  of  the  inventive  faculty,  succeeding  in  effecting  such 
transfers,  are  more  important  than  those  in  which  it  accomplishes 
simply,  a  change  of  materials,  for  they  tend  more  than  they  to 
weaken  the  powers  of  the  propensity  to  imitation,  and  establish 
general  principles,  applicable  to  all  arts.  Hence  we  observe, 
that,  in  countries  where  many  arts  flourish,  there  are  most  general 
principles,  least  servile  imitations,  and  very  often,  a  continual 
onward  progress.  Barren  apart,  they  show  generative  virtues 
when  brought  together.  I  take  it,  that  it  is  chiefly  from  this 
circumstance,  that  the  seats  of  commerce  have  been  so  generally 
the  points,  from  whence  improvements  in  the  arts  have  emanated. 


238  Of"  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

Thus,  also,  countries  where  various  different  races,  or  nations, 
have  mingled  together,  are  to  be  noted,  as  coming  eminently 
forward  in  the  career  of  industry.  Great  Britain  is  a  remarka- 
ble instance  of  this  ;  so  are  the  United  States  of  America.  When 
individuals  meet  from  different  countries,  they  reciprocally  com- 
municate and  receive  the  arts  of  each,  adopt  such  as  are  suited 
to  their  new  circumstances,  and  probably  improve  several.  Ser- 
vile imitation  can  there  have  no  place,  for  there  is  no  common 
standard  to  imitate.  Countries  again,  where  only  one  art  is  prac- 
tised, and  where  the  population  is  composed  of  one  unmingled 
race,  are  generally  servilely  imitative.  Such  are  some  purely 
agricultural  countries.  Experience  shows,  that,  from  the  influ- 
ence of  this  propensity,  improvements,  in  these,  always  introduce 
themselves  very  slowly.  Leaving,  however,  these  general  re- 
flections, we  should  now  turn  to  particular  instances  of  passages 
in  this  way,  of  processes  and  inventions,  from  art  to  art,  and 
consequent  improvement  of  old,  and  generation  of  new  arts. 
But,  as  these  will  be  chiefly  recent,  and  European,  there  are  one 
or  two  circumstances,  affecting  generally  their  progress  in  this 
part  of  the  globe,  to  which  it  may  be-  as  well  previously  to 
advert. 

The  rough  and  variable  climate  of  Europe,  compared  with 
the  regions  that  have  given  origin  to  most  of  the  arts  now  pre- 
vailing in  it,  renders  the  necessary  cost  of  subsistence  much 
greater.  To  live  at  all,  in  most  parts  of  Europe,  men  must  con- 
sume a  greater  quantity,  and  better  quality  of  food,  or  they  must 
be  more  warmly  clothed,  and  comfortably  lodged,  than  in  regions 
nearer  the  equator.  The  influence  of  this  circumstance,  has 
probably  been  somewhat  increased  by  another.  Along  the  Med- 
iterranean, civilization  seems  to  have  gained  great  part  of  its  ad- 
vance by  colonization,  and  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  this  movement 
of  men  from  one  region  to  another,  proceeds  from  different  mo- 
tives, than  others  impelling  them  to  a  change  of  seat.  Men  are 
often  compelled  by  necessity  to  migrate  in  tribes  and  nations,  but 
emigration  in  small  parties,  proceeds  from  choice. 

They  cannot  well  be  induced  to  leave,  not  only  their  homes, 
but  their  kindred  and  nation,  unless  from  the  hope  of  bettering 
their  condition,  and,  if  their  project  miscarries  not,  they  do  in  fact 
better  their  condition,  and  are  indemnified  for  the  pains  of  emi- 
gration, by  a  greater  command  of  the  necessaries  and  comforts 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  239 

of  life.  Thus  habits  of  larger  consumption  are  introduced,  than 
absolute  necessity  might  demand.  Both  circumstances  would 
have  the  effect  of  augmenting  the  expense,  or  the  wages  of  labor, 
and  of  creating  an  additional  difficulty,  to  the  passage  of  the  arts 
of  warmer  climates,  into  these  more  northern  regions.  It  is  very 
evident,  for  example,  that  an  European  workman  could  never 
have  sat  down  to  a  Hindoo  loom,  for  the  purpose  of  fabricating 
a  garment  to  himself:  it  would  have  been  much  better  for  him 
to  keep  to  his  sheepskin  jacket.  Before  the  transfer  of  any  art 
could  be  effected,  invention  had  to  supply  it  with  additional 
facilities.  Stimulated  by  its  wants,  by  the  new  scenes  in  which 
it  found  itself,  and  by  the  new  materials  submitted  to  it,  it  accord- 
ingly seems  always  to  have  succeeded  in  doing  so.  There  is, 
perhaps,  scarcely  an  implement,  in  general  use  in  Africa,  or  in 
Asia,  excepting  from  it  China,  that  has  not  passed  with  improve- 
ment into  Europe. 

In  modern  Europe,  too,  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of 
accumulation,  seems  to  have  been  always  greater,  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  old  world.  This  circumstance  has  much  facil- 
itated the  passage  into  it,  of  the  several  arts,  and  balancing  the 
higher  rates  of  wages,  and  more  stubborn  materials,  has  rendered 
the  formation  of  very  many  instruments  there  practicable,  which 
the  weaker  accumulative  principle  of  the  Asiatics,  or  Africans, 
would  have  left  unattempted. 

It  is  worth  while  to  remark,  that  there  is  a  considerable  analogy 
in  this  particular,  between  the  different  conditions  of  society  in 
that  continent  and  Asia  then,  and  what  exists  between  them  now, 
in  Europe  and  North  America.  The  general  wages  of  labor 
seem  always  to  have  been  higher  in  Europe,  than  in  Asia,  in  the 
same  way  as  the  wages  of  labor  in  North  America,  are  now 
higher  than  in  Europe.  The  same  process,  too,  that  carried  the 
arts  to  Europe,  seems  now  aiding  their  passage  across  the  Atlan- 
tic. As  flame  often  sets  against  the  wind  for  that  it  is  fed  by  it, 
so  invention  seems  to  hold  its  course  against  opposing  obstacles, 
for  these  obstacles  excite  its  powers  and  minister  materials  to 
their  action. 

The  progress  of  the  knowledge  of  the  natures  and  qualities 
of  particular  substances,  gradually  introduced  a  knowledge  of  the 
properties  and  natures  of  substances  in  general.  Men  first  see 
in  the  concrete,  afterwards  in  the  abstract.     Thus,  the  discovery 


240  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

of  the  several  mechanical  powers,  and  the  knowledge  acquired 
of  the  nature  of  each,  led  in  time  to  the  general  principles  of 
mechanics.  A  knowledge  of  the  mathematical  properties  of 
substances,  as  in  land-measuring,  and  in  the  regular  figures  of 
architecture,  led  to  a  perception  of  the  general  properties  of  figure, 
or  of  space  as  an  affection  of  matter,  and,  at  last,  to  the  doctrine 
of  pure  space  and  motion. 

In  the  ancient  world,  science,  as  founded  on  a  generalization 
of  the  experiences  of  art,  was  little  prosecuted.  It  is  only  in 
modern  times,  that  the  science  of  experience  has  come  to  form 
an  element  of  importance,  in  the   general  advance  of  invention. 

It  is  clearly  on  the  antecedent  progress  of  art,  that  the  foun- 
dation of  the  hopes  of  Bacon,  for  the  future  progress  of  science, 
rested.  His  philosophy  may  be  fitly  described,  as  a  plan  to  reduce 
to  method  the  chance  processes  that  had  been  going  on  before, 
by  which  men,  as  we  have  seen,  happening  on  one  discovery 
after  another,  grope  their  way,  as  he  expresses  it,  slowly,  and  in 
the  dark,  to  fresh  knowledge  and  power.  The  progress  of  the 
philosophy  to  which  he  has  given  his  name,  as  well  as  that  of 
the  science  of  mathematics,  have  uncpestionably  discovered  to 
us  many  general  truths,  and  theorems  of  art,  and  form  therefore 
a  new  element  influencing  its  progress.  The  great  moving  pow- 
ers will,  however,  still,  I  apprehend,  be  found  to  proceed  from 
the  principles,  the  action  of  which  we  are  now  to  attempt  farther 
to  trace  through  particular  instances. 

Men  must  have  been  very  early  led  to  the  use  of  some  of  the 
farinaceous  plants,  and  other  vegetable  matters,  which,  before 
they  are  fit  for  food,  require  to  be  reduced  to  small  fragments. 
To  effect  this,  they  must  either  have  rubbed  them,  or  beat  them, 
between  some  two  substances.  If  stone  were  the  material,  they 
would  rather  prefer  rubbing  them,  from  the  liability  of  that  sub- 
stance to  break,  and  from  its  weight.  It  is  thus  that  the  rude 
tribes  of  southern  Africa,  to  this  day,  lay  their  corn  on  one  flat 
stone,  and  grind  it  by  the  help  of  another.  An  improvement  on 
this  instrument,  is  to  have  the  lower  stone  a  little  hollowed,  and 
perhaps  marked  with  transverse  notches.  In  one  form  or  other, 
this  is  a  very  general  and  ancient  instrument,  and,  it  may  be  ob- 
served, is  probably  the  first  machine  in  which  a  circular  motion 
was  introduced. 

If  wood  be  the  material,  then,  to  produce  any  effect,  the  sub- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  241 

Stance  to  be  comminuted  must  be  laid  on  one  piece,  and  an- 
other be  struck  against  it.  But,  thus,  a  large  portion  of  the 
matter  operated  on  would  fly  off,  and  be  lost.  The  most  natural 
mode  of  preventing  this,  is,  to  hollow  out  the  lower  piece.  The 
Indians  of  North  America  make  an  instrument  of  this  sort,  very 
easily,  by  taking  a  portion  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree  of  hard  wood, 
setting  it  upright,  and  burning  and  scraping  out  a  hole  in  the  upper 
end.  They  have  then  a  large  mortar,  to  which  adjusting  a 
wooden  pestle,  they  produce  the  implement  with  which  they 
pound  all  their  corn.  Such  an  instrument  seems,  Hke  its  fellow 
of  stone,  to  have  been  in  very  general  use,  at  one  time  or  other, 
in  most  parts  of  the  world.* 

Tribes  having  learnt  the  use  of  such  an  instrument,  on  sub- 
stances  most  easily  comminuted,  would  be  urged  on  to  essay 
its  powers  on  more  cohesive  matters.  They  might  succeed  in 
the  attempt,  at  first,  by  simply  increasing  tlie  size  of  the  imple- 
ment, and  searching  out  the  hardest  and  heaviest  woods  to  con- 
struct  it  of,  but,  even  these  improvements  would  at  length  be 
insufficient  for  the  enterprizes  to  which  their  confidence  in  their 
powers,  or  their  necessities,  might  excite  them.  To  overcome 
these  increasing  difficulties,  it  would  require  no  great  stretch  of 
the  inventive  faculty,  to  hit  on  the  expedient,  of  placing  a  firm 
transverse  bar,  with  a  hole  in  it,  for  the  passage  of  the  handle  of 
the  pestle,  across  the  top  of  the  mortar,  from  side  to  side.  Such 
a  change  in  its  construction,  seems  accordingly,  to  have  been  very 
generally  effected.  Simple  as  it  is,  it  contained  the  germ  of  very 
many  subsequent  improvements.  The  force  employed,  acting 
thus  not  directly,  but  through  the  intervention  of  a  fulcrum,  may 
be  so  applied  as  to  give  either  increased  velocity,  or  increased 
power,  and  the  regulated  movement  introduced  renders  mere 
power  almost  all  that  is  necessary.  The  size  of  the  mortar,  and 
weight  of  the  pestle,  might,  therefore,  be  increased  indefinitely, 
and  the  instrument  might  be  put  in  motion  by  men,  or  by  cattle. 
The  expression  of  the  vegetable  oils,  was  found  to  be  the  most 
difficult  operation  to  be  performed,  by  instruments  of  this  sort, 
and  it  is  probable,  that  it  was  to  effect  it,  that  machinery,  by  which 

*  In  a  Scotch  ballad,  I  believe,  in  Allan  Ramsay's  collection,  containing  a 
catalogue  of  a  peasant's  furniture,  perhaps  two  centuries  since,  "  A  timmer 
mell  the  bear  to  knock,"  is  among  the  utensils  enumerated.  We  yet  speak 
of  striking  barley. 

31 


242  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

increased  force  might  be  employed,  was  first  made  use  of.     Oil 
mills,  of  this  sort,  are  yet  common  in  the  east. 

This  constraction  rendered  the  union  of  the  wooden  mortar 
and  pestle,  with  the  parallel  instrument  of  stone,  almost  inevita- 
ble. Hardness  and  heaviness,  being  the  requisites  in  the  pestle, 
and  an  equal  resistance  being  necessary  in  the  mortar,  to  bring 
about  the  junction,  it  would  seem  to  have  been  only  requisite, 
that  the  two  machines  should  have  met  where  there  w^as  a  scarcity 
of  wood  of  proper  quality.  The  handle  of  the  pestle,  through 
which  a  cross  bar  was  then  thrust,  became  the  axle  of  the  upper 
mill  stone,  and  the  lower  mill  stone  formed  the  bottom  of  the 
mortar.  The  movement  then  became  altogether  circular,  and 
required  small  absolute  force,  but  as  much  swiftness  as  could  be 
given  to  it.  The  machine  thus  generated,  by  the  passage  of  the 
one  instrument  into  the  other,  was  then  a  regular  mill,  to  work 
which  was  the  employment  of  cattle  or  slaves.  As  it  united  the 
advantages  of  the  two  original  instruments,  the  capacity  of  the 
wood  to  receive  and  modify  motion,  and  of  the  stone  to  bruise 
and  comminute  hard  vegetable  matters,  its  invention  seems  to 
have  had  considerable  effect  in  advancing  art  still  farther.  The 
moving  power,  in  one  of  the  most  laborious  and  common  opera- 
tions, was  thus  reduced  to  a  simplicity  of  action,  that  paved  the 
way  for  its  being  performed  by  an  inanimate  agent ;  such  an  agent 
was  introduced  into  the  process,  through  the  intervention  of  an- 
other art. 

In  hot  regions,  water  is  very  abundantly  consumed,  both  as  a 
necessity  and  luxury,  for  immediate  use,  and  as  the  great  fertilizer 
of  the  soil.  In  such  regions,  the  raising  it  from  wells  and  rivers 
has  always  been  a  very  common  and  laborious  process,  and  to 
facilitate  it  has  given  occasion  to  some  of  the  earliest  efibrts  of 
ingenuity.  One  of  these  consisted  of  a  large  wheel,  placed  up- 
right, and  to  the  circumference  of  which  small  buckets  were 
affixed.  It  was  put  in  motion  by  treading  on  it,  and  the  buckets 
and  it  Avere  so  so  arranged,  that  they  sliould  just  dip  beneath  the 
stream,  in  the  low^er  part  of  their  circumvolution,  and,  at  the 
height  of  it,  should  empty  themselves  into  a  reservoir  placed 
above.  A  considerable  saving  of  labor  was  thus  produced.  An- 
other improvement  did  entirely  away  with  the  necessity  of  em- 
ploying it,  in  many  situations.  To  the  outside  of  the  wheel, 
where  there  was  a  sufficient  current,  were  affixed  broad  plates  of 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  343 

wood,  or  other  material,  on  which  the  strength  of  the  stream 
acting,  forced  it  round,  and  performed  the  office  of  the  laborer. 
Such  engines  are  of  common  use  in  China,  at  present.  They 
were  known  in  Italy,  in  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar,  to  which  they 
probably  found  their  way  from  Asia.  They  presented  to  the 
Romans  a  means  of  employing  the  power  of  water  in  the  labo- 
rious operation  of  grinding,*  which  they  had  sufficient  discern- 
ment to  adopt.  The  motion  of  the  water-wheel,  was  communi- 
cated to  the  mill,  by  the  intervention  of  a  toothed  wheel. 

Thus,  from  the  union  of  the  productions  of  the  inventive 
faculty  exercised  on  at  least  three  arts,  came  the  rude  model 
of  the  present  water-mill.  Its  progress  was  at  first  slow.  Such 
mills,  seem  only  to  have  been  constructed,  when  there  was  a 
current  of  water  suited  to  the  purpose.  The  expense  of  form- 
ing artificial  falls,  seems  to  have  been  too  great  for  the  improvi- 
dence of  the  age.  Though  abundant  materials  existed,  the 
accumulative  principle  of  the  people  was  too  weak  to  work  upon 
them.  Cattle-mills,  and  mills  driven  by  slaves,  continued  there- 
fore to  be  generally  preferred. f  It  was  owing  to  an  invention, 
like  so  many  others,  the  result  of  necessity  and  genius  united, 
that  the  use  of  water-mills  became  more  general.  When  Rome 
was  besieged  by  the  Goths,  in  the  time  of  Belisarius,  they  cut 
off  the  supply  of  water  by  the  aqueducts.  Among  the  other 
inconveniences  arising  from   the  measure,  it  stopped   the  mills 

*  Fiunt  etiam  in  fluminibus  rotae  eisdera  rationibus,  quibus  supra  scriptum 
est.  Circa  earum  frontes  affiguntur  pinnae,  cjuee  cum  percutiuntur  abimpetu 
fluminis,  cogunt  progredientes  versari  rotam  ;  et  ita  modiolis  aquam  haurientes 
et  in  summum  referentes,  sine  operarum  calcatura,  ipsius  fluminis  impulsa 
versatae,  praestant  quod  opus  est,  ad  usum.  Eadem  ratione  etiam  versantur 
liydraulse,  in  quibus  eadem  sunt  omnia,  praeterquam  quod  in  uno  capite  axis 
habet  tympanum  dentatum  et  inclusum ;  id  autem  ad  perpendiculum  colloca- 
tum  in  cultrum,  versatur  cum  rota  pariter.  Secundum  id  tympanum,  majus 
item  dentatum  planum  est  collocatum,  quo  continetur  axis,habens  in  summo 
capite  subscudem  ferreum  qua  mola  continetur.  Ita  dentes  ejus  tympani, 
quod  est  in  axi  inclusum,  impellendo  dentes  t3'mpani  plani,  cogunt  fieri  mo- 
larum  circinationem,  in  qua  machina  impendens  infundibulum  subrninistrat 
molis  f'rumentum,  et  eadem  versatione  subijitur  farina. — Vitruvius,  Lib.  X.  c. 
10.  as  quoted  by  Beckman,  Vol.  I. 

Si  aquae  copia  est,  fusurus  balnearum  debent  pistrina  suscipere ;  ut  ibi 
formatis  aquariis  molis,  sine  animalium  vel  hominum  labore,  frumenta  fran- 
gantur.— Pallad  de  re   rust.  lib.  I.  42.  edit.  Gesn.  II.  p.  892.— Ibid. 

t  Three  hundred  years  after  Augustus,  the  number  of  cattle-mills  in  Rome 
amounted  to  three  hundred. — Beckjian. 


244  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

driven  by  the  water  from  these  aqueducts.  To  remedy  the 
evil,  that  general  devised  the  scheme,  of  anchoring  barges  in  the 
river,  in  which  he  placed  mills  driven  by  tlie  current.  The 
plan  met  the  immediate  exigence,  and,  as  such  a  construction 
suited  the  low  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  of  the  age, 
it  was  generally  adopted  elsewhere.  In  the  present  times,  such 
a  plan  would  be  rejected,  because,  though  the  first  expense  is 
comparatively  small,  the  durability  of  the  instrument  is  too  short. 
We  prefer  the  greater  expense  of  making  dams,  and  sluices,  on 
account  of  their  greater  durability.  The  cause  leading  to  the 
construction  of  the  one  or  the  other,  is  the  same  as  that  deter- 
mining the  Chinese  to  the  formation  of  floating  gardens,  where 
the  Dutch  would  build  dams. 

The  invention  maintained  itself  through  the  dark  a^es,  and 
followed  the  improvement  and  extension  of  agriculture,  and 
facility  of  communication,  which  returning  civilization  and  tran- 
quillity gradually  diffused.  It  seems  to  have  spread  very  gen- 
erally over  Europe,  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. The  force  of  water  being,  by  it,  turned  to  the  service 
of  man,  wind  also  was  made  to  employ  its  powers  to  a  similar 
purpose. 

Important  as  these  engines  were  in  themselves,  from  their 
immediate  utility,  they  were  more  so  in  their  effects.  Men's 
minds  were  directed  to  the  advantage  of  what  is  termed  machin- 
ery, instruments  that  is  giving  new  velocity  and  direction  to 
motion,  and  to  the  power  of  inanimate  agents,  generative  of 
motion,  of  both  which  the  mill  afforded  the  first  eminent  instance. 
Examples  of  the  possibility  of  executing  by  other  powers  than 
the  human  hand,  or  the  strength  of  the  inferior  animals,  one  of 
the  most  difficult  of  the  operations  that  the  necessities  of  man- 
kind called  for,  being  brought  freshly  before  the  eyes  of  almost 
all  Europe,  naturally  prompted  the  genius  of  reflective  men  to 
conceive  the  idea  of  applying  them  to  other,  and  even  less  easy 
processes.  This  general  stimulus  to  the  inventive  faculty,  con- 
joined with  others,  acting  vigorously,  but  occasionally  and  par- 
tially, and  already  referred  to,  carried  the  improvement  through 
a  great  variety  of  operations.  Mills  of  all  sorts,  came  to  be 
constructed,  driven  commonly  by  water,  as  the  more  forcible,  and 
manageable  power.  To  trace  the  course  of  invention  through 
these,  were  not  to  mark  the  principles  regulating  the  progress  of 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  245 

that  faculty,  but  to  enter  on  a  description  of  European  art.  It 
may  be  sufficient  to  observe,  that,  in  conformity  to  these  princi- 
ples, not  only  was  each  difficulty  o\ercoine  by  it,  a  benefit  to 
the  particular  art  it  was  meant  to  serve,  but  to  ait  in  general, 
each  conquest  extending  its  authority,  not  alone  over  the  prov- 
ince where  it  was  achieved,  but  over  the  whole  region  which  it 
was  its  object  to  gain.  If,  for  instance,  comparing  the  ingenious 
and  complete  machinery  of  a  well-constructed  flour-mill  of  the 
present  day,  with  a  model  of  the  rude  and  imperfect  engines  of 
the  sort  that  existed  two  hundred  years  ago,  we  ask  the  cause 
of  the  difference,  we  shall  probably  be  told,  the  improvement 
of  mechanics ;  but,  if  we  trace  the  progress  of  this  improve- 
ment carefully,  we  will  find,  that  it  was  the  fitting  of  the  ma- 
chinery of  this  very  engine,  to  other  arts  that  was  one  of  the 
main  producers  of  it.  The  productions  of  the  union  of  arts 
also  propagating  others,  like  all  generators,  their  increase  goes 
on,  to  borrow  a  phrase  of  common  use  in  inquiries  connected 
with  these,  when  there  are  no  retarding  checks,  not  in  a  simple 
arithmetical,  but  in  a  geometrical  progression. 

The  effects,  produced,  by  the  passage  through  different 
arts,  of  this  improvement  on  a  very  ancient  engine,  import- 
ant as  they  were,  have  been  far  exceeded  in  extent  of  con- 
sequences, by  one  of  altogether  modern  invention.  I  allude  to 
the  steam  engine,  the  progress  of  which,  we  T\'ill  find  to  have 
regulated  itself  almost  altogether  according  to  the  above  prin- 
ciples. 

As  the  progress  of  order,  civilization,  and  art,  covered  the 
island  of  Great  Britain  with  a  numerous  population,  the  stores  of 
fuel  which  its  cold  and  moist  climate  required,  and  its  forests  had 
at  first  afforded,  were  by  degrees  exhausted.  Its  situation  pre- 
vented its  receiving  the  supplies,  which,  had  it  made  a  part  of 
the  continent,  might  have  been  brought  down  rivers,  issuing  from 
interior  regions.  Necessity  thus  taught  its  inhabitants  the  gen- 
eral use  of  coal,  in  which,  happily,  its  territory  abounds.  But 
what  of  this  material  lay  close  to  the  surface,  and  the  fields  im- 
mediately beneath,  having  been  wrought  out,  the  miner  was  urged 
on  by  the  increasing  wants  of  his  countrymen,  and  the  abundant 
materials  before  him,  to  penetrate  still  deeper,  and  the  labors  of 
generations  formed  large  excavations,  in  regions  far  beneath  the 
surface.     Here,  however,  he  was  met  by  an  enemy  continually 


246  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

gathering  strength  as  he  advanced  on  him,  and  threatening  com- 
pletely to  bar  his  future  progress.  The  farther  he  penetrated, 
water  poured  in  upon  him  in  greater  quantity,  while  to  free  him- 
self of  it  he  had  to  elevate  it  to  a  greater  height.  A  period 
seemed  approaching,  when  very  many  of  tlie  mines  must  be 
abandoned.  In  this  extremity,  it  was  natural  to  the  men  en- 
gaged in  this  occupation,  to  cast  about,  and  endeavor  to  dis- 
cover some  devise,  through  help  of  which  they  might  success- 
fully continue  its  pursuit.  The  resources  of  all  powers  hitherto 
known  having  been  tried,  as  far  as  in  such  situations  they  could 
be  effectually  employed,  and  seeming  to  be  on  the  point  of  yield- 
ing, it  could  not  but  occur  to  attentive  thinkers,  that,  if  they 
w^ere  to  succeed,  the  probability  was  it  would  be  through  some 
one  hitherto  unemployed.  Of  those,  steam  was  perhaps  the  most 
apparent,  and  manageable.  Its  force  must  have  been  at  least  in 
some  measure,  known  to  many,  and  had  been  previously  pointed 
out  by  one  distinguished  individual,  as  capable  of  producing  the 
greatest  effects.  The  operation  to  be  performed  by  it,  too,  seemed 
peculiarly  fitted  for  its  action.  Water  is  moved  in  pipes,  and, 
it  is  only  in  confinement  that  the  power  arising  from  the  rarifica- 
tion,  and  condensation  of  steam  becomes  sensible.  It  appeared 
then  by  no  means  impracticable,  to  manage  the  condensation 
and  rarification  within  metal  pipes,  so  connected  with  those  in 
which  the  water  had  to  be  raised,  as  to  supply  the  force  neces- 
sary to  produce  its  elevation.  On  this  principle  the  attempt  was 
made,  and  succeeded,  in  first  practically  establishing  the  power 
■of  an  agent,  destined,  we  cannot  doubt,  to  produce  effects,  far 
greater  than  any  wdiich  has  hitherto  been  placed  within  the  hands 
of  man. 

The  various  circumstances  conjoining  to  bring  about  this  im- 
portant event,  are  deserving  our  attention.  1st.  The  urgent 
demand  for  some  powerful  agent,  however  rude  and  unwieldly 
in  action.  Had  the  operation  to  be  performed,  been  in  any 
degree  complicated  and  nice  in  its  nature,  it  would  never  pro- 
bably have  occurred  to  any  one,  that  the  expanse  and  collapse 
of  a  vapor,  shut  up  in  iron  vessels,  could  be  brought  to  execute 
it.  2d.  The  materials,  metal,  coal,  and  water,  being  in  these 
situations  abundant.  3d.  The  previous  improvement  of  ma- 
chinery in  general.  4th.  The  want  occurring  to  men  of  pro- 
perty, and  of  a  class  in  general   bold   in  enterprise,  and  accus- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  247 

tonied  to  stake  their  funds  freely.  Had  any  of  these  been  want- 
ing, this  extraordinary  invention  might  yet  have  slumbered, 
veiled  in  the  darkness  which  had  covered  it  for  so  many  thousands 
of  years.  Perhaps  it  might  have  been  stifled  at  its  birth,  for  its 
first  appearance  gave  but  slight  token  of  its  inherent  capabilities. 
The  expenditure  of  fuel  and  of  labor,  necessary  to  the  discharge 
of  its  functions,  was  excessive.  It  having,  however,  been  thus 
established,  that  it  was  an  agent,  within  the  compass  of  man's 
abihty,  to  make  a  partner  in  the  series  of  his  operations,  there 
was  a  strong  stimulus  to  endeavour  to  render  it  a  more  econom- 
ical  agent.  This  was  effected  by  a  change  in  the  construction 
of  the  apparatus,  the  leading  feature  of  w-hich,  is,  the  causing 
the  steam  to  perform  its  operations,  through  the  intervention  of 
a  piston.  The  instrument  thus  produced,  was  an  effective  and 
economical  operator  in  the  purpose  designed.  The  improve- 
ment was  important  in  itself,  and  far  more  so  in  its  consequences. 
Had  the  machinery  of  simple  pipes  and  valves  been  contmued, 
under  some  improved  form,*  it  might  have  appeared  only  fitted 
for  propelling  fluids,  and  been  confined  to  that  purpose,  as  through 
the  aid  of  sails  of  some  sort,  wind  has  been  made  to  propel 
vessels,  from  very  early  ages,  though  it  is  only  of  comparatively 
recent  times,  that  it  has  been  applied  to  give  motion  to  mills. 
But,  the  introduction  of  the  piston,  and  its  adjuncts,  showed  the 
power  in  a  familiar  form ;  the  handle  of  a  pump  was  a  thing  well 
known  as  put  in  motion  by  machinery,  and  it  was  obvious  that 
the  movement  had  only  to  be  reversed,  to  communicate  motion 
to  any  machinery.  Under  this  form,  therefore,  its  progress  as  a 
power  through  all  other  machinery,  may  be  said  to  have  been 
inevitable.  It  possessed  the  important  advantages  of  being 
always  at  command,  uniform  in  action,  and  unbounded  in  force. 
In  this  progress  it  was  assisted  in  one  important  step  by  science. 
The  discovery  of  the  doctrine  of  latent  heat  enabled  it  at  once 
to  surmount  a  great  obstacle,  which  might  otherwise  have  long 
limited  the  extent  of  its  operations.  It  is  perhaps  not  to  be 
supposed,  but  that  the  general  truth  would  have  been  itself  at  last 
made  known  by  the  continual  groping  after  improvement,  which 
the  existence  of  such  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  men  would 

*  The  formation  and  condensation  of  the  steam,  might  have  been  man- 
aged in  chambers,  separate  from  the  system  of  pipes  and  reservoirs  elevating 
the  water. 


248  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

of  itself  have  occasioned ;  if  however  science  advanced  it  by  only 
a  few  years,  the  beneficial  effects  of  such  an  anticipation,  will  be 
allowed  to  have  been  very  great.* 

In  its  course,  two  things  seem  specially  worthy  of  notice,  the 
additional  freedom  which  it  gave  the  inventive  faculty,  and  the 
circumstances  which  existed  to  facilitate  the  progress  of  that 
faculty,  and  which  it  seized  on  for  the  purpose.  The  conscious- 
ness of  the  possession  of  an  agent,  of  unlimited  and  perfectly 
manageable  power,  which  had  escaped  the  attention  of  all  pre- 
ceding ages,  seemed  to  have  immediately  more  effectually  broken 
the  constraining  and  retarding  influence  of  the  propensity  to 
imitation,  than  any  preceding  event.  Whatever  mere  motion 
could  do,  if  the  sphere  of  its  action  could  be  contracted  into 
small  space,  was  conceived  within  the  power  of  steam,  and  in- 
vention set  to  work  with  a  determination  progressively  to  supply 
the  means  of  its  application.  In  these  essays,  it  has  been  always 
ultimately  successful.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to  enlarge  on  the 
great  changes  it  has  hence  effected,  or  on  the  important  improve- 
ments it  has  introduced.  It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that, 
whatever  it  has  performed,  has  proceeded  in  the  order  we  have 
indicated,  and  which,  I  believe,  almost  all  inventions  have  fol- 
lowed. The  diversity  of  climates,  territories,  productions,  and 
other  circumstances  of  different  regions  and  nations,  has  helped 
it,  as  them,  forward,  and  been  to  it  as  it  were  steps,  by  which  it 
has   gained   the  rank  it  holds  in  the  modes  of  human  industry. 

Thus  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  North  American  conti- 
nent, may,  with  propriety,  be  said  to  have  been  the  exciting  cause 
producing  steam  navigation,  one  of  the  most  important  of  these 
steps.  That  country  is  full  of  great  lakes  and  rivers,  affording  the 
easiest,  and  often  the  only  means  for  the  transport  of  the  larger 
quantities  of  agricultural  produce,  that  its  interior  sections  yield. 
Such  inland  navigation  is  always  exceedingly  tedious ;  there  were 
therefore  peculiar  reasons  for  the  devise  of  some  new  agent  to 
facilitate  it.  An  agent  like  steam  too,  might  evidently  be  em- 
ployed with  more  safety  and  chance  of  success,  in  calm  inland 
waters,  than  in  the  great  ocean.  If  we  consider,  in  addition  to 
this,  the  greater  play  which,  from  circumstances  already  enume- 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  1  have  seen  it  stated,  that  Watts  did  not 
take  the  idea  of  his  great  improvement  from  Dr.  Black's  discovery,  but  that 
it  was  entirely  the  result  of  his  own  inventive  powers. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  049 

rated,  the  inventive  faculty  enjoys  in  that  continent,  we  shall  see 
that  it  was  there,  so  to  say,  that  this  improvement  ought  to  have 
taken  place.  The  point,  too,  in  North  America,  where  it  did 
first  actually  take  place,  is  also,  as  it  were,  particularly  marked 
out  for  it.  The  transport  between  New  York  and  Albany,  by 
sailing  vessels  on  the  Hudson  river,  was  both  very  expensive, 
and  pecularily  tedious.  Steam  has  there  changed  a  voyage  of 
days,  or  weeks,  into  one  of  less  than  sixteen  hours.* 

The  circumstances  leading  on  to  the  invention  of  steam  land 
carriage,  may  also  be  noted  as  exemplative  of  this  view  of  the 
subject.  There  were  first  simply  railroads,  to  facilitate  heavy  drafts 
for  short  distances,  from  coal  mines  ;  then  there  was  a  more  general 
use  of  them  in  all  heavy  drafts;  finally,  there  was  the  general 
application  of  steam,  as  the  power  to  effect  transport  of  all  sorts, 
and  with  all  velocities,  along  the  smooth  surface  they  afforded. 
All  that  was  wanted  for  the  last  step  was,  that  the  mechanism 
should  be  rendered  less  heavy  and  cumbersome,  and,  it  may  be 
remarked,  so  great  confidence  had  been  generated  of  the  power 
of  the  inventive  faculty,  that  the  undertaking  was  commenced 
with  full  assurance  that  it  would  accomplish  the  desired  improve- 
ment, although  the  manner  how  was  not  known.  The  result 
showed  that  the  confidence  was  not  misplaced. 

Thus,  such  are  the  steps  by  which  invention  advances,  that  it 
would  seem,  had  there  been  no  country  like  Great  Britain,  the 
steam  engine  might  not  yet  have  been  produced ;  had  there  been 
none  like  North  America,  steam  navigation  might  not  yet  have 
been  practised ;  and  again,  had  not  Great  Britain  existed,  metal 
railways  and  steam  carriage  might  have  been  still  only  in  the 
category  of  possibilities. 

The  invention  of  printing  has  often  been  cited  as  one  of  the 
most  important  of  modern  times.  The  steps  by  which  it  ad- 
vanced were  also  of  that  gradual  and  easy  nature,  one  leading  on 
to  another,  and  surrounding  circumstances  prompting  to  essay  the 
ascent,  as  to  take  away  all  admiration  of  its  progress,  were  it  not 
that  the  constitution  of  man's  nature  renders  the  passing  of  any 
individual,  coolly  and  deliberately,  the  least  out  of  the  circle  of 
imitation,  very  often  a  proof  of  the  strongest  powers  of  mind. 
There  was  first  the  stamping  with  signets ;  then  the  transfer  of 
this  initial  art,  to  stamping,  instead  of  painting,  playing  cards ; 

■"  Note  H. 

32 


250  .  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

then  the  existence  of  a  great  and  unceasmg  demand  for  one  book, 
the  Bible,  the  excessive  cost  of  transcription,  and  the  transfer  of 
the  art  of  stamping  cards  to  stamping  pages,  first  of  the  sacred 
volume,  and  afterwards  of  others ;  lastly,  there  was  the  passage  of 
another  art,  that  of  casting  dies  for  coining,  to  facilitating  the 
formation  of  metallic  types.*  The  art,  thus  perfected,  was  dis- 
seminated by  the  tyranny  of  a  petty  prince.-j- 

The  art  which  has  most  immediate  connexion  with  the  increase 
of  wealth,  the  business  of  banking,  is  itself  in  some  measure  illus- 
trative of  the  influence  of  change  in  producing  improvements  in 
all  arts.  It  commenced  in  countries  where  exchanges  for  large 
amounts  were  numerous.  Venice,  Florence,  Genoa,  Amster- 
dam, the  great  marts  of  commerce,  were  the  first  banking  com- 
munities. In  them,  however,  its  operations  were  confined  to 
transfers  of  specie,  and  the  benefits  derived  from  them  consisted 
chiefly  in  security  given,  and  trouble  avoided.  It  passed,  at  last, 
into  countries  where  there  w-ere  comparatively  few  actual  ex- 
changes^ and  where,  in  order  to  eftect  the  passage,  invention  was 
obliged  to  develope  its  capacities  for  facilitating,  and  thus  exciting 
and  increasing  exchanges.  The  following  extract  from  the  Wealth 
of  Nations  will  render  this  apparent. 

"  The  commerce  of  Scotland,  which  at  present  is  not  very 
ereat,  was  still  more  inconsiderable  w^hen  the  two  first  banking 
companies  were  established ;  and  those  companies  would  have 
had  but  little  trade,  had  they  confined  their  business  to  the  dis- 
counting of  bills  of  exchange.  They  invented,  therefore,  another 
method  of  issuing  their  promissory  notes ;  by  granting  what  they 
called  cash  accounts,  that  is,  by  giving  credit  to  the  extent  of  a 

•  In  asciibino-  the  invention  of  printing  not  to  chance,  but  to  the  gradual 
progress  of  event's,  I  am  supported  by  the  authority  of  Condorcet,  and  appa- 
rently also  by  that  of  Dugald  Stewart.  "  L'invention  de  I'imprimerie  a  sans 
dout  avance  le  progres  de  I'espece  humaine;  mais  celle  invention  etoit  elle- 
meme  une  suite  de  Tusago  de  la  lecture  repandu  dans  un  grand  nombre  de 
pays."     Vie  du  Targot.     I'ref.  to  tirst  dissertation  to  Enc.  Brit. 

t  On  sait  comment  I'impriraerie  s'est  repandue  depuis  14G2  par  la  revolu- 
tion que  Mayence  eprouva  cette  meme  annee.  Adolphe,  comte  de  Nassau, 
soutenu  par  la  Pape  Pie  II.  ayant  surpris  cotte  ville  imperiale,  lui  ota  ses  lib- 
ertes  et  privileges.  Alors,  tous  les  ouvriers,  qu'elle  avoit  dans  son  sein  a 
I'exception  de  Guttenburgh  s'enfuirent,  se  disperserent  et  porterent  leur  art 
dans  Ics  lieux  et  les  pays  ou  il  n'etoit  pas  connu.  C'est  a  cet  evenement  que 
tous  les  bistoriers  reunis  a  Jean  Schosffer  fib  de  Pierre  et  petit-fils  de  Faust, 
placent  I'epoque  de  la  dispersion  dont  I'Europe  profita.  (Encyclopedic  art 
Jmprimeriei.) 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  251 

certain  sum,  (two  or  three  thousand  pounds  for  example),  to  any- 
individual  who  could  procure  two  persons  of  undoubted  credit 
and  good  landed  estate  to  become  surety  for  him,  that  whatever 
money  should  be  advanced  to  him,  within  the  sum  for  which  the 
credit  had  been  given,  should  be  repaid  upon  demand,  together 
with  the  legal  interest.  Credits  of  this  kind  are,  1  believe,  com- 
monly^  granted  by  banks  and  bankers  in  all  different  parts  of  the 
world.  But  the  easy  terms  upon  which  the  Scotch  banking 
companies  accept  of  repayment  are,  so  fur  as  I  know,  peculiar  to 
them,  and  have  perhaps  been  the  principal  cause,  both  of  the 
great  trade  of  those  companies,  and  of  the  benefit  which  the 
country  has  received  from  it." 

If  we  may  judge  of  the  progress  of  an  art  from  its  general 
success,  the  transfer  of  the  business  of  banking  to  Scotland  would 
furnish  another  proof  of  the  benefits  accruing  to  arts  themselves, 
from  their  passages  from  country  to  country.  No  where  has 
banking  been  productive  of  more  acknowledged  advantages, 
and  no  where  have  the  evils  occasionally  attendant  on  it  been 
fewer.* 

As  also  illustrative  of  the  subject,  I  may  call  the  attention  of 
the  reader  to  a  fact  often   noted,  —  the  small  progress  of  the 
aborigines  of  the  new  world  in  art,  when  compared  with  that 
attained  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  old. 

If  we  are  to  search  for  natural  causes  of  the  phenomenon,  in 
my  opinion  we  may  find  them,  in  the  greater  extent  of  continent 
in  the  eastern  than  in  the  western  hemisphere,  and,  especially, 
of  continent  lying  under  the  equatorial  regions,  the  birth  place  in 
both  of  the  arts  they  possessed.  This  extent  of  country,  and 
diversity  of  materials,  must  have  increased  very  much  the  cliance 
of  discovery  in  the  arts,  and  tended  greatly,  on  the  principles  we 
have  just  been  considerrag,  to  push  forward  their  improvement. 
To  take  as  an  example  an  art  which  has  been  particularly  referred 
to.f  that  of  domesticating  the  ox,  and  teaching  him  labor.  To 
suppose  that  men,  while  the  whole  of  that  species  of  animals 
were  yet  wild,  conceived  the  project  of  domesticating  them,  in 
order  that  they  might  apply  them  to  the  various  purposes  they 
now  serve,  were  a  conjecture  altogether  unwarranted  by  any 
event  in  the  history  of  mankind  and  of  art.     We  have  rather 

*  Note  G. 

t  Dr.  Robertson's  History  of  America,  vol.  II. 


252  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

reason  to  believe  that  in  this,  as  in  other  instances,  they  must 
have  been  led  on  to  the  object  gradually,  by  the  intervention  of 
circumstances,  each  carrying  them  a  certain  way  towards  this 
great  end.  But  there  must  evidently  have  been  a  greater  chance 
for  the  existence  of  such  circumstances,  in  the  great  range  of 
continent  lying  within,  or  not  far  from,  the  borders  of  the  torrid 
zone  in  Asia,  Africa,  or  Europe,  than  in  the  small  part  similarly 
situated  in  America.  Without  pretending  to  say  what  those 
circumstances  were,  it  is  at  least  probable  that  one  may  have 
been  the  keeping  these  animals  in  enclosures,  merely  to  satisfy 
the  curiosity,  or  to  afford  the  amusement  of  hunting  to  the  chiefs, 
or  kings,  of  the  agricultural  nations.  This  we  know,  in  more 
recent  times,  to  have  been  a  custom  in  some  eastern  countries.^ 
There  they  would  in  time  lose  great  part  of  their  natural  ferocity, 
and  become,  like  deer  in  our  parks,  half  tame.  Now,  it  is  evi- 
dent enough,  that  the  chances  for  this  important  step  towards  the 
accomplishment  of  the  object  being  imdertaken,  would  be  directly 
in  proportion  to  the  number  and  extent  of  the  agricultural  countries 
of  those  ages,  that  is,  to  the  extent  of  continent  lying  near  the 
equator. 

The  period  when  the  event  took  place  marks  a  great  change 
in  the  condition  of  man,  for,  independently  of  its  immediate  effects, 
it  necessarily  brought  about  the  existence  of  a  race  of  herdsmen, 
occupying  regions,  in  the  state  of  art  at  the  time,  not  coming 
within  the  range  of  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accu- 
mulation of  the  neighboring  people,  as  tillable  land.  Herdsmen 
once  existing,  it  could  scarce  be  but  that  they  would  spread 
themselves  wherever  they  could  find  support  for  their  cattle,  and 
gradually  exterminate  the  hunting  tribes.  There  is,  I  think, 
reason  to  suppose  that  such  a  revolution  occurred  in  Europe 
many  ages  previous  to  the  time  of  recorded  history.  Its  import- 
ance may  be  estimated  from  the  observations  that  are  made  in  a 
preceding  part  of  this  volume.f 

We  may,  on  similar  principles,  in  part,  account  for  the  low 

*  Xenophon.  Cyrop. 

t  Page  148.  Were  this  the  place  to  enlarge  on  the  subject,  many  circum- 
stances confirmatory  of  such  an  event  might  be  enumerated  ;  as  the  traces  of 
the  existence  of  a  race  of  mere  hunters  over  all  Europe,  the  roots  of  European 
languages  being  the  same  as  those  of  central  Asia,  the  form  and  constitution 
of  the  present  domestic  ox  species,  and  of  sheep,  marking  their  gradual  migra- 
tion from  a  warm  cl'iiiate,  into  colder  regions  and  more  abundant  pasture. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  253 

rank  in  the  scale  of  humanity  occupied  by  the  aborigenes  of 
Austraha,  that-  fifth  and  yet  but  partially  explored  continent. 
The  uniformity  of  soil,  climate,  and  natural  productions,  of  that 
whole  region  is  very  great.  This  limited  variety  of  materials 
would  seem  to  have  diminished  the  number  of  arts  generated, 
and  that  of  improvements  arising  from  effects  of  changes,  among 
those  having  obtained  existence. 

In  conclusion  I  may  observe,  that  I  believe  it  will  be  found, 
that  there  is  no  art  in  existence  which  we  may  not  find  means  to 
trace,  with  greater  or  less  certainty,  to  the  rudest  and  most  simple 
principles,  and  which  may  not  be  shown  to  have  attained  perfec- 
tion by  continual  changes  from  place  to  place,  and  material  to 
material,  and  by  encountering  consequently  alternate  difficulties 
and  facilities,  the  former  developing  its  powers,  the  latter  extend- 
ing their  field  of  action,  and  both,  by  helping  to  introduce  general 
principles,  weakening  the  restraining  power  of  the  tendency  to 
servile  imitation,  and  advancing  the  progress  of  science.  This 
successive  passage  of  the  same  arts  from  country  to  country,  and 
from  one  into  another,  seems  to  be  the  great  exciting  cause  of 
the  progress  of  them  all.  The  greatest  improvement  of  British 
manufacture  in  recent  times  is,  I  may  remark,  a  passage  of  this 
latter  sort.  The  cotton  manufacture  is  a  passage  of  the  art  of 
fabricating  woollens,  into  that  of  fabricating  cottons.  It  was  the 
perfection  of  the  former  more  easy  art  that  showed  the  possibility 
of  the  existence,  and  eventually  brought  about  the  existence  of 
the  latter,  invention  in  this  case,  being  excited  by  the  higher 
wages  of  labor  in  Europe  than  in  Asia.  Improvement  was  the 
consequence.  The  peculiar  difficulties  the  material  presented 
being  overcome,  the  facilities  it  possessed  were  experienced. 

This  view  of  the  subject  seems  somewhat  to  illustrate  the  fol- 
lowing reflections  of  Lord  Bacon,  concerning  the  early  progress 
of  art,  and  may  satisfy  us,  that,  even  yet,  they  are  not  altogether 
inapplicable.  He  observes,  that,  "  although,  when  we  first  begin 
to  consider  the  variety  of  necessaries,  conveniences,  and  elegances, 
which  the  mechanical  arts  minister  to  life,  we  are  rather  struck 
with  a  feeling  of  admiration  at  the  abundant  wealth  which  man- 
kind  inherit,  than  with  a  sense  of  their  poverty ;  yet,  when  we 
examine  every  thing,  and  consider  through  how  many  chances 
and  revolutions  these  arts  have  been  brought  to  their  perfection, 
and  through  what  simple  and  easy  reflections  they  have  been 


254  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

discovered,  such  sentiments  will  soon  leave  us,  and  we  shall  be 
inclined  to  commiserate  the  penury  and  barrenness  of  invention 
of  tlie  human  race,  which  have  taken  so  many  ages  to  accom- 
plish things  deducible  without  difficulty,  from  facts  neither  very 
numerous,  nor  very  hard  to  be  ascertained."  *  It  is  indeed  true 
that  the  philosophy,  in  the  introduction  of  which  he  bore  so 
eminent  a  part,  has,  in  these  latter  ages,  been  a  very  effective 
promoter  of  the  dominion  of  man,  and,  mixing  with  art,  has  much 
purified  and  dignified  its  spirit,  and  greatly  increased  its  powers, 
turning  invention  in  this  department  from  particulars  to  generals, 
and  converting  art  into  science.  This  has  more  especially  hap- 
pened in  the  chemical  sciences,  and  those  connected  with  them, 
a  sphere  to  which,  I  may  be  allowed  to  observe,  his  system  seems 
particularly  applicable.  There,  science  begins  to  lead  and  direct 
art ;  in  other  departments  she  rather  follows  and  assists  it.  But, 
with  regard  to  the  general  progress  of  art,  even  its  recent  history 
evinces  the  justice  of  these  observations,  and  shows  that  "  men 
estimate  falsely  both  their  possessions  and  their  powers,  deeming 
of  the  first  more  highly,  and  of  the  last  more  lightly,  than  they 
ought."!  We  shall  admit  this,  if  we  consider  the  vast  number  of 
qualities  and  powers,  and  of  new  practical  combinations  of  them, 
that,  in  our  days,  have  been  discovered  and  applied  to  use,  and 
reflect  on  the  long  series  of  ages  during  which  they  were  hid  in 
darkness,  on  the  proximity  of  men  to  them,  and  the  ease  with 
which  they  might  have  lighted  on  them,  would  they  have  turned 
their  eyes,  ever  so  little,  out  of  the  busy  circle  of  actual  life  and 
occupations.  If,  too,  the  history  of  the  past  tell  us  truly  what 
the  future  will  be,  we  may  feel  assured  that,  as  it  is  not  the  powers 
of  nature  or  of  man,  but  the  application  of  them,  that  is  limited, 
if  individuals  be  inclined  by  their  own  dispositions  to  apply  them- 
selves to  purposes  conducive  to  the  general  good,  and  if  they  be 
incited  to  do  so  by  causes  similar  to  such  as  have  before  operated, 
art  and  science  will  still  stretch  their  capacities,  until  they  may 
at  length  reach  an  extent  of  which  it  is  impossible  for  us  now  to 
form  any  conception. 

An  attentive  consideration  of  the  history  of  art  might  also  give 
rise  to  a  series  of  reflections  of  another  sort.  It  would  show  a 
purpose,  which  does  not  strike  us  on  a  first  view  of  the  creation. 
Pv'ature,  it  would  seem,  if  I  may  be  allowed  so  to  express  myself, 

**  Nov.  Org.  L.  1.  LXXXV.  t  Idem. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  O55 

sensible  of  the  combined  pride  and  imbecility  of  man,  has  so 
arranged  the  world  she  has  provided  for  him,  as  to  make  it  the 
means  of  urging  him  on,  in  a  continual  progress,  towards  higher 
and  higher  attainments.  Neither  the  defects  of  his  limited  and 
cloudy  faculties,  nor  the  intoxication  of  the  vainglory,  that,  fed 
by  his  imitative  propensities,  is  ever  representing  him  to  himself 
as  having  reached  the  summit  of  terrestrial  perfection,  can  pre- 
serve him  stationary.  He  is  now  impelled  by  necessity,  now 
excited  by  hope,  to  attempt  the  amelioration  of  his  condition,  and 
thus  gradually  to  develope  the  latent  capacities  of  his  own  being, 
and  of  the  sphere  of  existence  in  which  he  moves.  By  a  diver- 
sity of  climates,  soils,  and  nations,  steps  are,  as  it  were,  arranged 
for  him,  up  which  he  is  gradually  enticed,  or  compelled  to  mount, 
to  fresh  acquisitions  of  knowledge  and  power.  He  is  never  allowed 
to  remain  stationary.  A  portion,  indeed,  of  the  race  may,  and 
for  a  limited  time,  but  ultimately  they  either  improve,  or  yield 
their  place  to  surrounding  peoples  who  have  improved. 

Some  philosophers  urge  it  as  an  objection  against  the  world's 
having  been  formed  by  a  designing  cause,  that  so  large  a  portion 
of  its  surface  is  useless  to  man.  According  to  them,  had  it  been 
formed  by  perfect  and  beneficent  reason,  it  should  have  been  such 
a  level  garden,  as  a  certain  theorist  supposed  it  originally  to  have 
been.  Had  it  been  so,  we  may  safely  assert,  that  man,  as  man, 
could  never  have  inhabited  it.  He  must  either  have  been  formed 
above,  or  sunk  below,  his  present  condition.  Because  we  do  not 
turn  to  any  account  the  sandy  desert,  or  rugged  mountain,  we  are 
not  entitled  to  look  on  them  as  blots  on  the  general  utility  of  the 
creation,  or  suppose,  even,  that  they  may  not  be  put  to  use  by 
succeeding  generations.  The  savage  of  New  Holland  conceives 
every  tree  useless  that  does  not  soon  rot,  and  so  breed  maggots 
for  him.  The  ancient  Romans  scarcely  conceived  that  the  woods 
and  morasses  of  Caledonia  would,  at  any  time,  be  abundantly 
useful.  We  judge  rashly,  then,  in  condemning  as  useless  any 
portion  of  the  earth.  Even  the  barren  deserts  of  Africa  may,  in 
after  ages,  be  fertilized.  Art  and  industry  may,  in  time,  draw 
water  plentifully  from  the  depths  of  the  earth,  and  cover  them 
with  treple  harvests.  To  do  so,  human  art  must  make  great 
advances,  and  these  and  the  other  obstacles  it  has  met  with,  and 
will  meet  with,  are  stimulants  to  its  advance. 

War  itself,  so  great  an  evil  to  the  individuals  within  the  scope 


256  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

of  its  ravages,  is  evidently  tlie  only  manner  by  which,  in  certain 
states  of  society,  an  amelioration  can  be  induced.  The  destruc- 
tion of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  almost  of  the  Roman  race,  by 
the  barbarians,  was,  perhaps,  ultimately,  the  most  beneficial  revo- 
lution ever  brought  about.  Even  in  its  minor  consequences,  this 
apparent  evil  produces  also  much  of  real  good.  Without  it,  many 
of  the  most  useful  inventions  might  never  have  been  either  pro- 
pagated, or  improved. 

We  are  ever  ready  to  forget  the  part  which  nature  thus  bears 
in  our  operations,  and  to  lay  the  whole  credit  of  our  skill  and 
industry  to  our  own  discernment.  The  slow  and  gradual  manner 
in  which  she  has  led  us  on  to  the  acquisition  of  every  art, 
acting  all  along  the  part  of  the  sagacious  teacher,  w"ho  puts 
before  his  scholar,  at  first,  the  most  simple  and  easy  lessons,  and 
on  his  mastering  these,  by  degrees,  through  the  influence  of  suit- 
able rewards  and  penalties,  conducts  him  to  more  diflicult  efforts, 
meets  not  our  notice,  and  rises  not  to  our  thoughts. 

Were  these  or  similar  reflections  fitly  placed  here,  the  subject 
might  give  occasion  to  many  more  of  the  sort.  But,  it  seems  to 
me,  that  we  act  always  rashly  and  imprudently  in  bringing  in  such 
disquisitions  into  inductive  inquiries.  They  belong  to  another 
subject. 

The  aim  of  science  may  be  said  to  be,  to  ascertain  the  manner 
in  which  things  actually  exist.  The  doing  so,  indeed,  has  been 
generally  found  to  bring  to  light  some  useful  purpose  in  their 
arrangement,  and  the  proofs  of  benevolent  design  thus  exhibited, 
are  exceedingly  interesting  in  relation  to  the  evidence  they  afford 
us  of  the  attributes  of  the  great  first  cause.  But,  as  science  is 
only  progressive,  we  are  never  certain  of  having  ascertained  the 
exact  manner  of  the  existence  of  any  thing,  and,  therefore,  we 
must  often  be  mistaken  in  the  ends  for  which  we  may  conceive 
that  the  things  we  see  are  formed.  The  confident  assumption, 
then,  that  we  have  exactly  ascertained,  in  any  case,  the  precise 
end,  and  the  application  of  this  assumed  purpose,  as  a  guide  to 
scientific  inquiry,  has  a  decided  tendency  to  retard  the  progress 
of  science.  For,  the  supposition  that  the  actual  arrangement  is 
different  from  what  it  was  conceived  to  be,  is  held  to  be  inadmis- 
sible, as  it  would  imply  some  deviation  from  the  design  for  which 
we  assumed  it  was  devised.  It  is,  as  Lord  Bacon  expresses  it, 
an  improper  blending  of  things  human  and  divine,  and  a  mode  of 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  257 

reasoning  which  he,  in  my  opinion,  with  much  propriety  repeat- 
edly cautions  his  followers  to  avoid. 

The  reflections,  therefore,  as  to  the  probable  designs  of  nature, 
in  the  constitution  of  the  world  as  the  abode  of  man,  which  I  have 
here  introduced,  would  have  been  excluded,  had  it  not  been  that 
Adam  Smith,  and  many  other  popular  writers  on  these  subjects, 
sometimes  indirectly,  in  their  application  of  terms,  sometimes 
directly,  in  their  reasonings,  assume,  that  the  designs  of  nature 
are  quite  opposite  to  what  I  have  represented,  and  make  their 
conceptions  of  her  purposes  an  argument  in  favor  of  their  par- 
ticular theoretical  views. 

The  embryo  doctrine  is  to  be  found  in  Virgil. 

"  Nonne  vides,  croceos  ut  Tmolus  odores, 
India  inittit  ebur,  molles  sua  thura  Saboei  ? 
^  At  Chalybes  nudi  ferrum,  virosaque  Pontus 
Castorea,  Eliadum  palmas  Epirus  equarum  ? 
Continue  has  leges  teternaque  foedera  certis 
Imposuit  natura  locis,  quo  tempore  primum 
Deucalion  vacuum  lapides  jactavit  in  orbera." 

"  Thus  Tmolus  is  with  yellow  saffron  crowned ; 
India  black  eben  and  white  ivory  bears ; 
And  soft  Idume  weeps  her  odorous  tears. 
Then  Pontus  sends  his  beaver  stones  from  far, 
And  naked  Spaniards  temper  steel  for  war  : 
Epirus  for  the  Elean  chariots,  breeds 
(In  hopes  of  palms)  a  race  of  running  steeds. 
This  is  the  original  contract ;  these  the  laws 
Imposed  by  Nature  and  by  Nature's  cause 
On  sundry  places,  when  Deucalion  hurled 
His  mother's  entrails  on  the  desert  world."  * 

In  the  same  manner  as  by  the  poet,  the  products  of  different 
re"ions  are  spoken  of  by  political  economists,  as  bestowed  on 
them  by  nature,  are  termed  natural  productions,  and  the  attempt 
to  transfer  them  to  other  sites,  is  held  to  be  a  procedure  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  designs  of  providence,  whose  intentions,  it  is  asserted, 
in  giving  them  these  productions,  were,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
different  countries  should  exchange  the  products  of  their  several 
territories  with  one  another. 

There  are,  I  conceive,  two  objections  to  this  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, the  first  referring  to  the  term,  natural  productions  ;  the 
second  to  the  purposes  assumed  to  be  the  ends  designed  by  na- 
ture. 

*  Georgic  I.  Dryden's  Translation. 

33 


258  OF  THE  NATURE  CF  STOCK. 

If  by  the  term,  natural  productions,  we  mean  things  produced 
without  the  aid  of  art,  then  no  civihzed  country  can  be  said  to 
have  any  natural  productions,  for  to  all  that  it  produces  art  lends 
its  aid.  It  were,  therefore,  I  think,  better  to  substitute  for  the 
term,  natural  productions,  that  of  actual  productions. 

But,  because  one  country  alone  now  produces  particular 
commodities,  we  are  by  no  means  warranted  to  conclude  that 
nature  intended  they  should  be  produced  only  there.  On  the 
contrary,  if  we  may  judge  of  a  scheme  by  the  mode  in  which 
its  parts  are  arranged,  and  in  which  tliey  act,  her  intentions 
were,  that  the  variety  of  materials  placed  before  man  should 
generate  the  rudiments  of  arts  at  different  points,  but  that  these 
arts  should  be  advanced  from  their  first  rough  simplicity,  and 
carried  to  greater  and  greater  excellence,  by  passing  from  one 
region  and  people  to  another.  If,  therefore,  we  find  any  art  con- 
fined to  a  particular  region  —  the  actual  production  of  only  partic- 
ular communities,  the  presumption  is,  that  it  is  yet  in  its  infancy, 
and  that  it  will  only  be  as  it  is  carried  to  new  countries  and  other 
men,  and  generally  diffused  over  the  whole  globe,  that  it  will  ad- 
vance towards  maturity.  Time  has  shown  that  the  supposed 
laws  and  decrees  of  nature,  which  the  poet  declared  to  be  of 
eternal  power,  are  already  abrogated  by  the  progress  of  art,  in  most 
of  the  instances  he  adduces.  The  natural  productions  of  Great 
Britain,  serviceable  to  man,  are  certainly  very  few.  The  catalogue 
of  her  actual  productions,  even  of  those  alone  in  which  she  preemi- 
nently excels,  is  greater  than  that  of  any  region  of  equal  extent. 
Were  Virgil  now  alive  he  certainly  would  not  cite  Albania  for 
horses,  or  Spain  for  iron.  These  results  are  entirely  the  work  of 
art,  to  the  operations  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  put  any  bounds. 
Who  can  positively  say  what  fifty  years  hence  will  be  the  produc- 
tions of  any  country? 

It  is  the  intention  of  the  inventive  faculty,  when  it  applies 
itself  to  the  arts  ministering  to  the  necessaries,  conveniences,  or 
superfluities  of  life,  —  to  the  wants  of  our  nature  that  the  subject 
we  treat  of  considers,  to  increase  the  supplies  which  it  is  the 
aim  of  each  to  procure.  If  when  it  gains  the  ends  it  purposes, 
it  really  produces  this  increase,  in  doing  so,  it  must  render  the 
labor  of  the  members  of  the  society  in  which  it  operates  more 
effective,  and  enable  them  from  the  same  outlay  to  produce 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  259 

greater  returns,  or  from  less  outlay  to  produce  the  same  returns. 
An  improvement  in  the  construction  of  a  plough,  enables  the 
individuals  employing  that  instrument  to  plough  a  greater  quantity 
of  land  with  the  same  cattle  and  labor,  or  an  equal  quantity  of 
land  with  fewer  cattle  and  less  labor.  The  use  of  water  as  a 
power  diminishes  very  greatly  the  labor  necessary  to  perform  the 
operations  in  which  it  is  employed,  and,  therefore,  from  a  less 
outlay,  produces  equal  returns.  Were  the  assumption  correct, 
on  which  we  have  been  all  along  proceeding,  that  instruments 
compare  with  each  other  by  the  physical  effects  they  produce, 
and,  that,  in  proportion  as  the  same  effects  result  from  less  outlay, 
or  greater  effects  from  the  same  outlay,  the  ratio  of  the  capacity 
of  the  instrument  to  its  cost  will  be  increased,  and  it  moved  to 
an  order  of  quicker  return,  then  the  successful  exertions  of  the 
inventive  faculty  would  always  be  effective,  and  every  discovery, 
directly  or  indirectly,  lead  to  real  improvement.  This,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  is  not  always  the  case,  because  many  com- 
modities are  not  estimated  by  their  physical  effects ;  but  continu- 
ing for  the  present  the  assumption,  which,  for  the  sake  of  simplicity 
of  exposition  we  have  made,  improvement,  in  this  case,  must  carry 
the  instruments  improved  by  it  to  more  speedily  returning  orders. 

It  is  here  also  to  be  observed  that,  although  any  particular  im- 
provement, unmediately,  and  at  first,  affects  only  the  instruments 
improved,  it  v^ry  shortly  diffuses  hself  over  the  whole  range  of 
instruments  owned  by  the  society.  The  successful  efforts  of  the 
inventive  faculty  are  not  a  gift  to  any  particular  artists,  but  to  the 
whole  community,  and  their  benefits  divided  amongst  its  members. 
If  an  improvement,  for  instance,  in  the  art  of  baking  bread  were 
effected,  by  which,  with  half  the  labor  and  fuel,  equally  good 
bread  could  be  produced,  it  would  not  benefit  the  bakers  exclu- 
sively, but  would  be  felt  equally  over  the  whole  society.  The 
bakers  would  have  a  small  additional  profit,  the  whole  society 
would  have  bread  for  the  product  of  somewhat  less  labor,  and 
all  w^ho  consumed  bread,  that  is,  every  member  of  the  society, 
would  from  the  same  outlay  have  somewhat  larger  returns.  The 
whole  series  of  instruments  owned  by  the  society  would  be  some- 
what more  productive,  w'ould  be  carried  to  an  order  of  quicker 
return.* 

In  this  manner,  all  improvements,  by  moving  the  whole  stock 

*  This  follows  from  the  nature  of  exchange,  see  page  1C6, 


260  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

of  instruments  belonging  to  any  society,  to  more  productive  orders, 
increase  proporlionably  its  absolute  capital  and  stock.  Should 
a  naturalist,  in  examining  the  nature  of  the  surface,  on  the  farm 
of  an  individual  in  a  small  agricultural  society,  make  the  dis- 
covery, that  beneath  it  there  was  a  quantity  of  plaster  of  Paris ; 
and  should  the  farmer,  in  consequence  of  his  recommendation, 
sprinkling  a  little  of  this  reduced  to  powder  on  some  of  his  fields, 
find  that  it  caused  them  to  yield  double  returns,  his  farm  or  the 
lease  he  held  of  it,  might  in  his  eyes  be  doubly  valuable,  and  he 
might  demand  in  exchange,  and  perhaps  receive  two  other  farms 
of  equal  size  in  its  place.  Were  it,  however,  found,  that  a  stra- 
tum of  this  substance  extended  over  the  whole  range  of  country 
possessed  by  the  society,  and  was  equally  efficacious  when  ap- 
plied to  any  portion  of  the  surface,  his  farm  would  not  be  more 
valuable  than  other  farms.  The  supply,  however,  for  future 
wants,  possessed  by  the  whole  society,  w^ould  be  largely  increased, 
and  the  strength  of  their  effective  desire  of  accumulation  remain- 
ing  undiminished,  their  absolute  capital  would  be  proportionably 
auo-mented.  But,  as  the  whole  stock  of  instruments  remained 
the  same,  with  the  exception  of  the  difference  made,  by  the  sur- 
face having  been  sprinkled  with  a  quantity  of  this  mineral  powder, 
their  amount,  as  measured  by  one  another,  would  be  the  same 
as  before.  Some  instruments  might  possibly  exchange  for  a 
greater  amount  of  instruments  of  another  sort,  than  formerly,  but 
this  chano-e  could  no  more  be  considered  an  increase  in  the  total 

O 

value,  than  the  fact  of  the  latter  instrument  exchanging  for  a  less 
amount,  could  be  considered  an  indication  of  a  diminution  of  the 
total  exchangable  value  of  the  stock  of  the  society.  The  rela- 
tive capital  and  stock  would  thus  remain  unchanged.  But, 
though  this  relative  or  exchangable  value  of  the  society's  stock 
might  remain  unchanged,  its  absolute  capital  and  stock  would  be 
increased.  The  reality  of  such  increase  is  marked,  in  all  similar 
cases,  by  at  least  three  circumstances. 

1.  The  members  of  the  society  possess,  in  general,  a  more 
abundant  provision  for  future  wants,  the  revenue  of  the  whole 
society,  and  of  each  individual  composing  it,  is  increased. 

2.  The  whole  society,  as  a  separate  community,  becomes 
more  powerful,  in  relation  to  other  communities.  It  can  support 
the  burdens  of  war,  and  the  expense  of  all  negotiations  and  na- 
tional contracts  with  foreign  powers,  with  greater  ease.     It  can 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  261 

also,  without  inconvenience,  execute  a  greater  number  of  useful 
works  and  undertakings.  The  imposts  which  the  state  levies  for 
such  purj30ses,  in  a  society  where  the  stock  of  instruments  is 
wrought  up  to  an  order  correspondent  to  ilie  average  effective 
desire  of  accumulation  of  its  members,  must  almost  always  occa- 
sion some  diminution  of  that  stock.  The  returns  comino;  in 
from  tl)eir  industry,  being  only  sufficient  to  reconstruct  the  instru- 
ments as  they  are  severally  exhausted,  an  additional  drain  made 
upon  their  funds  must,  in  most  cases,  prevent  the  reconstruction 
of  many  of  them,  and  consequently  occasion  a  disappearance,  to 
that  amount,  of  a  portion  of  the  general  stock.  But,  when  instru- 
ments are  of  more  productive  orders  than  the  effective  desire  of 
accumulation  of  the  society  demands,  the  abstraction  of  a  part  of 
their  retuins  by  the  state,  to  supply  its  exigencies,  only  carries 
them  nearer,  or  brings  them  altogether  to  an  order  corresponding 
to  the  strength  of  that  desire,  and,  therefore,  interferes  not  with 
their  reconstruction.  Taxation  is  paid  out  of  revenue,  not  out  of 
capital. 

3.  As  it  is  the  effect  of  improvement,  to  carry  instruments 
into  orders  of  quicker  return  than  the  accumulative  principle  of 
the  society  demands,  a  greater  range  of  materials  is  brought 
within  reach  of  that  principle,  and  it  consequently  forms  an  ad- 
ditional amount  of  instruments.  The  various  agricultural  im- 
provements with  which  invention  enriched  that  art  in  Biitain 
towards  the  conclusion  of  the  last,  and  commencement  of  the 
present  century,  occasioned  a  great  amount  of  materials  to  be 
wrought  up,  which  before  lay  dormant.  The  construction  of  the 
plough  in  Scotland,  and  generally  over  the  island,  was  so  im- 
proved that  two  horses  did  t.he  work  of  six  oxen.  The  diminu- 
tion of  outlay  thus  produced,  giving  the  farmer,  from  a  smaller 
capital,  an  equal  return;  he  was  encouraged  and  enabled  to  apply 
himself  to  materials,  which  he  would  otherwise  have  left,  as  his 
forefathers  had  done,  untouched.  He  carried  off  stones  from  his 
fields,  built  fences,  dug  ditches,  formed  drains,  and  constructed 
roads.  —  Lime  was  discovered  to  be  a  profitable  manure.  The 
additional  returns,  which  the  hard  clay  thus  converted  into  a 
black  loam  yielded,  were  spent  in  the  cultivation  of  land  before 
waste,  in  levelling  and  reducing  to  regularity,  the  rude  ridges  of 
antecedent  periods.  —  Tiie  culture  of  turnips  was  introduced  ;  and 
instead  of  useless  fallows  the  farmer  had  a  large  supply  of  a  nutri- 


262  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

live  food  for  his  cattle.  He  erected  better  buildings  for  the 
reception  of  his  stock,  he  improved  their  breed,  he  transported 
manure  from  great  distances,  he  had  his  fields  trenched  deeply 
with  the  spade,  fresh  soil  brought  up,  and  all  useless  or  prejudi- 
cial matters  buried  beneath.  Each  succeeding  improvement 
gave  a  fresh  stimulus  to  industry,  and  brought  new  materials 
within  the  compass  of  the  providence  of  the  agriculturist.  Nor 
was  this  all  ;  the  stimulus  reacted  also  on  the  inhabitants  of  the 
towns,  and  their  industry  was  augmented  by  the  increased  returns 
yielded  by  the  country,  and  by  the  new  demands  made  by  it. 
Improvements,  too,  in  the  branches  of  industry  in  which  they 
were  themselves  engaged,  of  at  least  equal  extent,  carried  them 
forward  in  a  like  career.  Rocks  were  quarried  ;  forests  were 
thinned ;  lime  was  burned ;  the  metal  left  the  mine ;  large  manufacr 
luring  establishments  arose  ;  wharfs,  docks,  canals,  and  bridges 
were  constructed ;  villages  were  changed  into  towns,  and  towns 
into  cities. 

It  is  thus  that  exery  improvement  animates  industry,  and 
though  it  cannot  increase  the  amount  of  instruments  immediately 
possessed  by  the  society,  or  the  sum  of  the  values  produced  by 
measuring  the  one  with  the  other,  shows  that  the  members  of  the 
society  really  estimate  them  higher  than  they  would  thus  be  rated, 
by  their  instantly  commencing  to  work  up,  into  analogous  instru- 
ments, inferior  or  more  stubborn  materials,  or  by  their  working  up 
similar  materials  more  laboriously.  The  amount  thus  wrought 
up,  until  the  process  stops,  by  the  total  instruments  constructed 
arriving  at  an  order  correspondent  to  the  effective  desire  of  ac- 
cumulation of  the  society,  must  depend  entirely  on  the  nature  of 
those  iTiaterials,  and  is,  therefore,  always  a  variable  quantity,  and 
one  never  to  be  ascertained  previous  to  the  event.  Sometimes 
a  very  small  improvement  may  put  a  large  range  of  materials 
within  reach  of  the  accumulative  principle,  sometimes  a  very 
considerable  improvement  may  not  enable  it  to  make  much  ad- 
dition to  the  stock  of  instruments  before  constructed. 

When  misfortunes  befal  the  general  industry  of  a  community, 
improvements,  though  they  may  not  add  to  the  national  capital, 
prevent  or  lessen  the  threatened  diminution  of  it.  In  agricul- 
ture, the  introduction  of  the  drill  husbandry  for  grain  crops,  and 
the  discovery  of  new  manures ;  in  manufactures  and  trade,  the 
improved  construction  of  steam  engines,  the  discovery  of  railroads^ 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  263 

and  many  other  recent  improvements,  have  taken  off  part  of  the 
weight  of  the  iieavy  burden,  that  has  of  late  years  been  imposed 
on  the  resources  of  Great  Britain. 

The  high  rate  of  profit,  which,  unless  when  counteracting  causes 
intervene,  follows  the  introduction  of  improvement,  is  indicative 
of  an  immediate  proportional  augmentation  of  the  absolute  capi- 
tal of  the  society,  and  produces  a  subsequent  addition  to  its  rela- 
tive capital,  the  amount  of  which  is  determined  by  the  additional 
capacity  which  the  materials  in  possession  of  the  community  can 
receive,  and  by  the  quantity  of  materials  of  the  next  lower  grades 
owned  by  it.  That  high  rate  of  profits,  again,  which  arises  from 
a  deficiency  in  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accunuilation, 
is  essentially  different.  It  indicates  no  increase  of  the  absolute 
capital  of  the  society,  no  recent  increase  of  the  revenue  of  its 
members,  no  greater  abihty  to  support  public  burdens,  and  no 
approaching  increase  of  relative  capital.  The  want  of  a  clear 
perception  of  this  distinction,  seems  to  have  led  Adam  Smith,  and 
some  other  writers,  to  speak  of  high  profits  as  generally  preju- 
dicial. 

In  countries  where  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  is  low, 
profits  are   of  necessity  high.     Such  countries,   too,  from  their 
inability  to  work  up  into  instruments  the   same  materials,   must 
always  be  poorer  than  their  neighbors.     Hence  high  profits  have 
been  regarded  as  indicating,  and  producing  poverty.     This  pre- 
judice is  one  source  of  the   errors  of  Sir  Joshua  Child  on  this 
subject,  and  it  seems  to  have  given  rise  to  one  or  two  rather  de- 
clamatory passages  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations.     "  Our  merchants 
and  master  manufacturers  complain  much  of  the  bad  effects  of 
high  wages  in  raising  the  price,  and  thereby  lessening  the  sale  of 
their  goods,  both  at  home  and  abroad.     They  say  nothing  »con- 
cerning  the  bad  effects  of  high  profits  ;  they  are  silent  with  regard 
to  the  pernicious  effects  of  their  own  gains;  they  complain  only 
of  those    of   other  people."  *      Now   I    apprehend    that   high 
profits  springing  from  improvement,  can  never  lessen  the  sale  of 
goods  either  at  home  or  abroad,  for  they  do  not  occasion  a  rise  in 
their  price,  but  rather  a  fall  in  it.  —  "  In  countries  which  are  just 
advancing  to  riches,   the  low  rate  of  profit  may,  in  the   price  of 
many  commodities,  compensate   the  high  wages  of  labor,  and 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  1.  c.  ix.     The  paradox  contained  in  the  passage 
preceding  this  quotation  is  exposed  by  Mr.  Ricardo. 


264  OF   THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

enable  ihose  countries  to  sell  as  cheap  as  their  less  thriving  neigh- 
bors, among  whom  the  wages  of  labor  may  be  lower,"*  In 
countries  rising  to  riches,  I  conceive,  that  profits  will  commonly 
be  high.  They  will  be  higher  than  where,  the  principle  of  ac- 
cumulation having  had  time  to  work  up  all  the  materials  within 
reach  of  its  strength,  a  slop  is  put  to  its  farther  advancing  the 
stock  of  existing  instruments,  and  the  state  of  the  society  becomes 
stationary.  If  they  be  lower  than  in  other  countries,  during  the 
progress,  it  is  from  the  greater  strength  of  this  principle. 

In  North  America,  profits  and  labor  have  been  permanently 
hioh,  from  the  unintermitting  transfer  to  that  continent  of  Euro- 
pean  arts,  and  from  the  generation  of  new  arts  in  the  country 
itself.  In  Russia  the  passage,  in  like  manner,  of  new  arts  has 
kept  the  rate  of  profits  high.  But,  of  all  civilized  countries  of 
the  present  day,  these,  probably,  are  the  most  rapidly  advancing 
to  riches. 

It  thus  appears,  that  it  is  through  the  operation  of  two  princi- 
ples,—  the  accumulative,  and  inventive,  that  additions  are  made 
to  the  stocks  of  communities.  It  would  contribute  something  to 
accuracy  of  phraseology,  and  therefore  to  distinctness  of  con- 
ception, to  distinguish  their  modes  of  action  by  the  following 
terms : 

1.  Accumulation  of  stock  or  capital,  is  the  addition  made  to 
these,  through  the  operation  of  the  accumulative  principle. 

2.  Augmentation  of  stock  or  capital,  is  the  addition  made  to 
them,  through  the  operation  of  the  principle  of  invention. 

3.  Increase  of  stock  or  capital,  is  the  addition  made  to  them, 
by  the  conjoined  operation  of  both  principles. 

Accumulation  of  stock  diminishes  profits ;  augmentation  of 
stock  increases  profits ;  increase  of  stock  neither  increases  nor 
diminishes  profits. 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  I.  c.  ix. 


CHAPTER    XI 


OF  LUXURY. 
PART  I. 

The  general  tendency  of  all  the  circumstances,  the  nature  and 
causes  of  which  it  has  been  our  aim  hitherto  to  investigate,  is  to 
advance  the  wealth  of  society,  the  capital  and  stock  of  commu- 
nities. Were  the  operation  of  the  principles  of  invention  and 
accumulation  to  go  on  unchecked,  the  amount  of  the  stock  of  all 
nations  would  be  gradually  and  uninterruptedly  increased  ;  the 
one  furnishing  the  means  of  providing  additional  supplies  for  the 
wants  of  futurity,  the  other  giving  the  motives  to  make  the  pro- 
vision. But  there  are  opposite  principles,  the  tendency  of  which 
is  either  to  retard  the  progress  of  the  general  stock,  or  actually 
to  diminish  the  amount  already  existing.  To  some  of  these  we 
have  now  to  attend. 

As  the  prevalence  of  the  benevolent  and  social  affections,  and 
the  strength  of  the  intellectual  powers,  are  the  great  springs  from 
which  the  increase  of  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  communities 
arise,  so  it  might  be  expected,  as  I  believe  it  will  be  found, 
that  the  diminution  of  that  wealth  is  chiefly  occasioned  by  the 
spread  of  contrary  principles,  by  the  ascendency  of  the  purely 
selfish,  and  debasement  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  parts  of  our 
nature. 

The  first  of  these  principles,  of  which  we  have  to  consider  the 
operation,  is  vanity ;  by  which  term  I  understand  the  mere  desire 
of  superiority  over  others,  without  any  reference  to  the  merit  of 
that  superiority.  A  perfect  being  may  be  desirous  of  superiority 
in  well-doing,  not  on  account  of  surpassing  others,  but  from 
pleasure  in  the  good  he  does.  A  very  evil  being  may  derive 
satisfaction  from  a  superiority  in  evil-doing,  simply  from  the 
pleasure  which  the  certainty  of  having  been  the  cause  of  very 
great  misery  may  give  him.     But  there  seems  to  be  a  feelin?,^  that 

34 


266  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

finds  its  proper  gratification  in  merely  going  beyond  others,  with- 
out reference  to  the  path  taken.  It  would  be  gratified  by  excel- 
ling in  vice,  were  it  not  that  the  moral  feeling  restrained  it ;  it 
would  be  gratified  by  excelling  in  virtue,  were  it  not  that  immoral 
propensities  incapacitate  it  from  attaining  an  eminent  degree  of 
it.  It  is  this  which,  for  want  of  a  better  word,  I  distinguish  by 
the  term  vanity.  It  is  a  purely  selfish  feeling  ;  its  pleasures  centre 
in  the  individual ;  and  if  it  does  not  endeavor  to  diminish  the 
enjoyments  of  others,  it  is  never  directly  its  object  to  increase 
them.  When,  in  the  course  of  its  action,  pleasure  is  communi- 
cated to  others,  this  arises  from  its  being  then  blended  with  other 
feelings. 

Its  aim,  in  all  cases  that  concern  our  subject,  is  to  have  what 
others  cannot  have.  One  of  the  most  perfect  instances  of  it  ever 
exhibited  was  when  Cleopatra  caused  a  very  precious  pearl  to  be 
dissolved,  that  she  might  consume  it  at  a  draught.  There  could 
be  here  no  pleasure  in  the  taste  of  tlie  liquor,  that  must  have 
been  rather  disagreeable ;  the  gratification  consisted  in  having 
drank  what  no  one  else  could  afford  to  drink.  The  son  of  the 
famous  Roman  actor  performed  a  similar  feat.* 

We  learn  from  Pliny  f  that  it  became  a  sort  of  fashion  at 
Rome  as  it  seems  to  have  been  in  the  East.| 

But  it  is  seldom  that  this  feeling  fixes  itself  upon  objects  that 
gratify  it  alone,  on  objects  solely  desirable  from  the  difficulty  of 
obtaining  them,  and  from  the  consequent  superiority  which  their 
possession  implies.  It  rather  prefers  such  as  have  also  qualities 
capable  of  gratifying  other  desires,  or  ministering  to  other  pleasures. 
The  amount,  however,  of  these  other  wants  supplied  by  the  objects 
it  covets  is  often  very  small ;  if  this  be  large  enough  to  distinguish 
them  from  matters  altogether  useless,  it  seems  very  frequently 
sufficient  for  its  purpose.  The  extravagances  of  the  table  in 
which  the  Romans  indulged  were  of  this  sort.  The  enjoyment 
afforded  by  the  articles  consumed  must  evidently  have  arisen, 
almost  altogether,  from  the  high  price  they  cost.  A  dish  of 
nightingale's  brains  could  scarcely  be  a  very  delicious  morsel,  yet 

*  Filius  iEsopi  detractam  ex  aure  Metclla; 
Scilicet  ut  decies  solidum  exsorberet,  aceto 
Uiluit  insignem  baccam. 
[lor.  Sat.  11.  IV.  The  value,  1,000,000 sestertii,  was  equalto  about  £5,000. 
t  FHn.  IX.  59. 
i  Vis  margaritarum  aceto  subactu.     Quintus  Curtius. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  357 

Adam  Smith  quotes  from  Pliny  the  price  paid  for  a  single 
nightingale  as  about  £66.  £80  were  given  for  a  surmullet. 
According  to  Suetonius,  no  meal  cost  Vitellius  less  than  £2000. 
The  enormous  prices  paid  for  various  articles  of  dress  and  furni- 
ture could  have  proceeded  alone  from  the  promptings  of  similar 
desires.  Thus  Adam  Smith  reckons  the  cost  of  some  cushions 
of  a  particular  sort  used  to  lean  on  at  table,  at  £30,000. 

The  things  to  which  vanity  seems  most  readily  to  apply  itself 
are  those  of  which  the  use  or  consumption  is  most  apparent,  and 
of  which  the  effects  are  most  difficult  to  discriminate.  Articles 
of  which  the  consumption  is  not  conspicuous,  are  incapable  of 
gratifying  this  passion.  The  vanity  of  no  person  derives  satis- 
faction from  the  sort  of  timber  used  in  the  construction  of  the 
house  he  occupies,  because  the  wood  work  is  usually  concealed 
by  paint  or  something  else.  Again :  if  the  effects  produced  by 
it  can  be  ascertained  with  accuracy,  the  object  seldom  affords  the 
means  of  sufficiently  marking  superiority.  Thus  coal  is  con- 
sumed for  the  heat  given  out  by  it,  and  the  different  quantities  of 
heat  yielded  by  different  qualities  of  coal  are  easily  ascertained. 
One  scarcely,  therefore,  prides  himself  on  burning  one  sort,  in 
preference  to  another.  It  is  not  equally  easy  to  ascertain  how 
much  the  marble  of  which  his  chimney  is  composed  exceeds,  or 
comes  short,  in  the  beauty,  the  variety,  and  arrangement,  of  its 
colors,  the  same  sort  of  material  made  use  of,  for  similar  purposes, 
by  his  neighbors.  Fancy  here,  stimulated  by  vanity,  may  raise 
the  one  more  or  less  over  the  other,  and  according,  therefore,  to 
the  strength  of  the  passion  will  the  assumed  superiority  be  greater 
or  less.  Few  things  have  qualities  belter  fitted  for  the  gratifica- 
tion of  this  passion  than  liquors.  Their  peculiar  flavors  and 
tastes  are  sufficient  to  distinguish  them,  and  yet  afford  no  room 
to  determine  how  much  the  one  exceeds  the  other.  The  imao^in- 
ation,  also,  seems  to  have  a  peculiar  power  over  the  organs  of 
taste  and  smell,  and  to  be  able,  through  the  instrumentality  of 
habit,  to  bring  them  to  receive  pleasure  from  what  at  first  was 
indifferent,  perhaps  even  disagreeable.  Hence  it  is  impossible 
to  set  any  bounds  to  the  superiority  which  one  may  acquire 
over  another,  from  the  influence  of  this  passion ;  and  it  may 
almost  be  laid  down  as  a  general  rule  with  regard  to  them,  that 
any  one  that  is  at  all  drinkable,  becomes  fit  for  being  placed  at 
the  tables  of  the  luxurious,  by  being  carried  a  sufficient  distance 


268  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

from  the  place  of  its  manufacture.  Thus,  during  the  peninsular 
war,  London  porter  was  largely  consumed  in  Spain  by  the  very 
classes  who,  in  England,  reckon  it  a  mark  of  vulgarity  to  drink  it 
at  all. 

It  is  not,  indeed,  to  be  disputed,  that  the  rarity  and  costliness 
of  the  liquors,  and  other  similar  commodities  consumed  by  an 
individual,  may  heighten  greatly  the  absolute  pleasure  he  derives 
from  them.  This  arises  from  a  trait  in  the  character  of  man, 
which  we  have  every  day  opportunities  of  observing.  The 
attention  is  always  roused  in  a  greater  degree  by  an  object,  when 
it  excites  more  than  one  faculty.  Two  flowers  together,  the  one 
having  the  beauty  without  the  scent  of  the  rose,  and  the  other 
its  scent  without  its  beauty,  would  not  afford  so  much  pleasure  as 
that  plant.  We  prefer  fruit  that  has  a  fine  color ;  it  absolutely 
tastes  better.  The  taste  is  quickened  by  the  additional  stimulus 
which  the  eye's  being  caught  by  the  beauty  of  the  color  gives  to 
the  sensation,  in  the  same  way  as  a  blow,  long  expected,  is  felt 
more  than  one  coming  unawares.  In  a  similar  manner,  the  mere 
costliness  of  wines,  or  meats,  rouses  the  sense  to  a  keener  percep- 
tion of  pleasure,  by  awakening  the  vanity  ;  and,  w4ien  the  indi- 
vidual is  conscious  of  being  a  connoisseur  in  such  matters,  this 
very  potent  mover  of  our  thoughts  and  sentiments  is,  besides, 
excited  by  the  discernment  shown  in  the  discrimination,  and  by 
the  familiarity  thence  implied  with  rare  wines  and  meats,  and, 
consequently,  with  what  is  called  the  best  society.  The  slight, 
and,  to  another  person  perhaps,  scarcely  perceptible  relish  which 
the  contents  of  the  glass,  or  the  dish,  leaves  on  the  palate,  is 
seized  and  dwelt  upon,  and  being  associated  and  wrought  up  with 
more  exciting  and  intellectual  delights,  is  fixed  in  the  mind  of  the 
sentimental  epicurean  as  something  infinitely  surpassing  what  he 
would  otherwise  have  conceived  of  it.  Had  pearls,  when  dis- 
solved in  vinegar,  produced  a  beverage  that  the  imagination  could 
possibly  have  transformed  into  a  delicacy,  how  would  it  not  have 
been  extolled  by  the  Romans ! 

The  general  consumption  of  any  commodity  by  the  vulgar 
lessens,  on  the  contrary,  in  many  minds,  the  pleasure  it  would 
otherwise  give.  It  brings  down  the  individual,  in  this  particular, 
to  a  level  with  the  lowest.  This  feeling  gave  rise  to  the  excla- 
mation of  a  once  celebrated  northern  Dutchess,  "  What  a  pity 
that  eggs  were  not  a  sixpence  the  piece." 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  269 

The  Roman  moralists  and  satirists  ground  many  of  their  invec- 
tives against  the  extravagance  of  the  times,  on  the  want  of  con- 
nexion between  the  quahties  of  the  articles  and  the  estimation  in 
which  they  were  held.*  Heliogabalus  confessed,  that  it  was  the 
relish  which  the  dearness  of  the  dishes  gave  to  them,  that  led  to 
the  evtravagance  of  his  table,  and  liked  to  have  the  price  of  his 
food  overrated,  because  this  sharpened  his  appetite. 

Were  proofs  wanting  of  how  very  slight  grounds  the  taste  has 
for  its  judgment,  in  declaring  this  to  be  delicious,  and  that  beneath 
notice,  we  might  find  them  in  its  variations  in  different  times  and 
places.  It  seems  only  content  in  preferring  what  is  expensive. 
Yet,  however  different,  each  society  in  perfect  sincerity  believes 
its  system  the  best.  Who  could  relish  now-a-days  a  Roman 
feast?  Certainly,  however,  they  believed  that  in  cookery,  as  in 
other  arts,  they  had  attained  the  summit  of  real  perfection.  Of 
their  good  faith  in  this  belief  they  gave  a  singular  instance.  A 
very  expensive  and  much  esteemed  sauce  was  made  by  them 
out  of  the  probably  half  rotten  entrails  of  certain  fish.f  So  con- 
vinced, however,  were  they  of  its  superlative  delicacy,  that  they 
had  the  care  to  make  a  formal  law  specially  prohibiting  its  being 
given  or  sold  to  the  barbarians. J  They  were  seriously  fearful 
lest,  should  these  rude  M'aniors  only  taste  it,  it  might  so  highly 
gratify  their  appetite,  as  to  bring  them  down  at  once  upon  the 
empire.  They  came,  notwithstanding,  but  neither  they  nor  their 
more  polished  descendants  seem  to  have  found  particular  charms 
in  the  garum. 

We  find  the  estimation  of  every  article,  whether  of  dress,  of 

*  Laudas,  insane,  trilibrem 
Mullum  :  in  singula  quem  minuas  pulmenta  necesse  est. 
Ducit  te  species,  video.     Quo  pertinet  ergo 
Proceros  odisse  lupos  ?  quia  silicet  illis 
Majorem  natura  modum  dedit,  his  breve  pondus. 

Hor.  Sat.  II.  L.  II. 

'  Interea  gustus  elementa  per  omnia  quseront, 

Nunquam  animo  pretiis  obstantibus  ;  interius  si 
Attendas  magis  ilia  juvant  quae  pluris  emuntur. 

Juvenal,  XI.  Sat. 
t  Aliud  etiamnum  liquoris  exquisiti  genus,  quod  garon  vocavere,  intestinis 
piscium  casterisque  quas  abjicienda  essent,  sale  maceratis  ut  sit  ilia  putrescen- 
tium  sanies.  —  Nee  liquor  ullus  psene  praeter  unguenta,  majore  in  pretio  esse 
caepit.     Plin.  lib.  31.  c.  8.  Nat.  His. 

X  The  edict  was  in  the  time  of  the  Emperors  Valens  and  Gratian.     Gold 
and  wine  were  laid  under  a  similar  prohibition. 


270  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK 

furniture,  or  of  equipage,  if  to  be  seen  by  many,  regulated  also, 
in  a  very  great  degree,  by  the  gratification  it  affords  this  passion. 
"  With  the  greater  part  of  rich  people,  the  chief  enjoyment  of 
riches  consists  in  the  parade  of  riches  ;  which,  in  their  eyes,  is 
never  so  complete  as  when  they  appear  to  possess  those  deci- 
sive marks  of  opulence  which  nobody  can  possess  but  themselves. 
In  their  eyes,  the  merit  of  an  object,  which  is  in  any  degree 
either  useful  or  beautiful,  is  greatly  enhanced  by  its  scarcity,  or 
by  the  great  labor  which  it  requires  to  collect  any  considerable 
quantity  of  it;  a  labor  which  nobody  can  afford  to  pay  but  them- 
selves. Such  objects  they  are  willing  to  purchase  at  a  higher 
price  than  things  more  beautiful  and  useful,  but  more  common.''  * 
Though  its  influence  now,  perhaps,  is  not  so  great  as  it  was  among 
the  ancients,  it  is  yet  more  apparent.  The  progress  of  art  has 
been  such,  that  there  is  scarcely  any  material,  or  fabric,  or  color, 
the  production  of  which  it  does  not  so  much  facilitate  as  to  bring 
it  within  the  reach  of  a  large  mass  of  consumers.  It  then  loses 
its  value  as  a  distinction,  and  ceases  to  serve  the  purposes  of 
vanity.  Hence  arises  the  necessity  for  the  variety,  and  seeming 
caprice,  of  fashion.  What  Adam  Smith  applies  to  one  class  of 
articles,  will  apply,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  whole  expenditure 
of  the  opulent.  "  When  by  the  improvements  in  the  productive 
powers  of  manufacturing  art  and  industry,  the  expense  of  any 
one  dress  comes  to  be  very  moderate,  the  variety  will  naturally 
be  very  great.  The  rich,  not  being  able  to  distinguish  themselves 
by  the  expense  of  any  one  dress,  will  naturally  endeavor  to  do 
so  by  the  multitude  and  variety  of  their  dresses."  f 

To  attempt  to  enumerate  the  modes  in  which  fashion  varies 
the  fitness  of  things  for  the  purposes  of  its  votaries,  were  little 
profitable,  and  is,  I  apprehend,  superfluous,  its  extended  influ- 
ence will  hardly  be  disputed.  "  What  is  the  cause,"  demands 
Mr,  Storch,!  "  that  gives  so  high  a  value  to  the  rare  jewels  with 
which  opulence  loves  to  deck  itself?  Is  it  the  pleasure  they 
give  the  eye,  by  the  brilliancy  of  their  reflected  light  ?  No ; 
that  slight  enjoyment  has  no  relation  to  their  value  ;  it  is  because 
they  attest  the  wealth  of  him  who  wears  them.  Such  are  all  the 
objects  of  this  sort  of  luxury  :  the  amount  of  enjoyment  they  give 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  I.  c.  XI. 

1  Idem.  B.  IV.  c.  IX. 

t  Cours  d'Economie  Politique,  liv.  VII.  c.  V. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  271 

through  the  direct  medium  of  the  senses  is  nothing,  in  compari- 
son of  that  which  they  yield  by  the  display  that  can  be  made  of 
them  to  others  —  even  objects  which  seem  by  their  nature  to 
have  no  other  end  but  to  please  the  senses,  are  almost  altogether 
estimated  by  the  gratification  this  display  produces.  Consider  a 
sumptuous  repast  given  by  opulence,  separate  from  it,  in  thought, 
every  thing  that  serves  only  to  show  the  riches  of  him  wdio  gives 
it,  and  leave  nothing  absolutely  on  the  table  but  what  may  gratify 
the  appetite  of  the  individual :  what  would  remain  ?  In  short, 
if  we  take  a  general  survey,"  continues  the  same  author,  "  of  all 
that  expenditure  which  is  made  after  the  natural  desires  are  satis- 
fied, we  will  perceive  that  it  is  almost  altogether  occasioned  by 
the  desire  to  appear  rich."  *  This  desire  of  appearing  superior 
to  others  thus  keeps  a  vast  number  of  things  in  a  state  of  cease- 
less revolution.     All  this  domain  is  under  the  rule  of  fashion. 

Diruit,  sedificat,  mutat  quadrata  rotundis. 

It  destroys  before  its  time,  as  IVIr.  Say  complains,  whatever  it 
lays  its  hands  on.  "  Any  thing  which  a  person  has  provided 
himself  with,  to  serve  some  useful  purpose,  is  preserved  as  long 
as  possible,  its  consumption  is  gradual.  An  object  of  luxury  is 
of  no  use  fi'om  the  moment  it  ceases  to  gratify  either  the  senses, 
or  the  vanity,  of  its  possessor.  It  is  destroyed,  at  least  in  greater 
part,  before  having  ceased  to  exist,  and  without  having  supplied 
any  real  want ;  —  luxury  has  in  abhorrence  every  profitable 
expense." 

The  expenditure  occasioned  by  this  desire  falls  on  all  classes 
of  society.  To  supply  it  takes  a  large  portion  of  the  revenue  of 
Avhat  are  called  the  middle  classes,  of  those  who  have  difficulty 
to  prove  their  claim  to  be  so  ranked,  of  those  who  are  comfort- 
able in  the  lower  classes,  and  even  of  those  who  have  difficulty 
in  procuring  absolute  necessaries.  "  In  all  classes,"  says  Mr. 
Storch,  "  the  desire  of  show  (le  luxe  (T ostentatioii)  has  been 
able  to  identify  itself  with  whatever  serves  the  comfort  or  the 
conveniences  of  hfe.  It  is  this  which  borders  with  a  narrow  lace 
the  head  dress  of  the  country  girl,  and  gives  to  her  whole  attire 
colors  and  a  shape  foreign  to  its  utility."! 

I  should  wish  to  apply,  to  the  expenditure  occasioned  by  the 

*  Traite  d'Economie  Politiqae,  liv.  VII.  c.  IV. 
t  Liv.  VII.  c.  V. 


272  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

passion  of  vanity,  the  term  luxury.  Though  that  word  has  pro- 
perly a  wider  signification,  it  is  perhaps  the  one  that  comes  nearest 
to  mark  the  thing  we  speak  of. 

It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  define  precisely  how  far  the  limits 
of  luxury,  so  understood,  extend.  It  is  a  point  which,  probably, 
different  people  would  fix  differently.  Whatever  amount  of 
pleasure  any  thing  gives,  that  is  entirely  distinct  from  its  rarity, 
or  any  association  with  that  circumstance,  certainly  is  not  luxury. 
There  is  a  pleasure  in  the  sight  of  certain  shapes  and  colors,  and 
arrangements  of  them,  which  is  quite  independent  of  their  cost ; 
there  is  a  fitness,  also,  in  the  texture  of  certain  fabrics,  to  pre- 
serve from  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  to  add  to  the  beauties 
of  feature  or  form,  and  to  correct  their  defects,  that,  of  itself,  gives 
pleasure ;  there  are  pleasures,  too,  which  the  mind  creates  to 
itself,  out  of  the  associations  of  these.  We  feel  pleasure,  in  a 
cold  day,  in  looking  at  a  person  well  wrapped  up  in  warm  furs, 
as  in  a  hot  day,  in  seeing  that  one  has  no  lack  of  clean  linen. 
A  nobleman  of  a  right  mind  experiences  gratification  from  seeing 
the  clean  sheets  and  warm  blankets  of  the  peasant,  as  well  as 
when  he  enters  and  looks  round  his  own  sedulously  arranged 
chamber.  It  is  this  feeling  we  experience  when  we  say  that 
such  a  house,  or  dress,  has  an  air  of  comfort  about  it.  The  term 
has  properly  reference  to  the  sensual,  and  to  the  benevolent,  not 
to  the  selfish  feelings.  The  sight  of  statues,  paintings,  flowers, 
is  also  capable  of  affording  a  high  degree  of  gratification  to  many 
minds.  The  degree  of  pleasure  thus  experienced  is  different  in 
different  individuals,  and  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  ascertain  what 
its  exact  amount  is  in  any  one  ;  hence  the  difficulty,  in  most 
cases,  of  determining  what  is,  or  is  not,  luxury.  Mr.  Storch,  in 
a  chapter  of  his  system  from  which  I  have  already  quoted,  ob- 
serves :  "  All  the  ornaments  which  decorate  the  apartments  of 
the  rich,  that  gilt  work,  those  sculptures  which  art  and  taste 
seem  to  have  formed  solely  to  delight  the  mind,  are  nothing  but 
a  sort  of  magical  characters,  presenting  every  where  this  inscrip- 
tion :  Admire  the  extent  of  my  riches."  Vanity,  there  can  be 
little  doubt,  is  the  predominating  feeling  prompting  to  the  con- 
struction of  sucli  apartments ;  it  is  not,  however,  the  only  one. 
Well  executed  statues,  even  elegant  gilding,  have  certainly  some- 
thing in  themselves  pleasing  to  the  eye,  and  to  the  mind,  of  the 
beholder,  whether  owner  or  guest.     The  larger  part  of  the  grati- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  273 

fication  derived  is  drawn  probably  in  most  cases  from  vanity,  and 
we  occasionally  meet  with  a  character  whose  pleasures  are  alto- 
gether those  of  ostentation ;  like  Pope's  prodigal, 

Not  for  himself  he  sees,  or  hears,  or  eats, 
Artists  must  choose  his  pictures,  music,  meats: 
He  buys  for  Topham  drawings  and  designs, 
For  Pembroke,  statues,  dirty  gods, and  coins; 
Rare  monkish  manuscripts  for  Hearne  alone, 
And  books  for  Mead,  and  butterflies  for  Sloane. 

But,  in  most  cases,  real  enjoyment  mixes  largely  with  mere 
vanity,  in  every  expenditure  of  the  sort. 

Adam  Smith  remarks,  that  "  It  is  not  by  the  importation  of 
gold  and  silver  that  the  discovery  of  America  has  enriched 
Europe.  By  the  abundance  of  the  American  mines  those  metals 
have  become  cheaper.  A  service  of  plate  can  now  be  purchased 
for  about  a  third  part  of  the  corn,  or  a  third  part  of  the  labor, 
which  it  would  have  cost  in  the  fifteenth  century.  With  the 
same  annual  expense  of  labor  and  commodities,  Europe  can 
annually  purchase  about  three  times  the  quantity  of  plate  which 
it  could  have  purchased  at  that  time.  But  when  a  commodity 
comes  to  be  sold  for  a  third  part  of  what  had  been  its  usual  price, 
not  only  those  who  purchased  it  before  can  purchase  three  times 
their  former  quantity,  but  it  is  brought  down  to  the  level  of  a 
much  greater  number  of  purchasers,  perhaps  to  more  than  ten, 
perhaps  to  more  than  twenty  times  the  former  number.  So  that 
there  may  be  in  Europe,  at  present,  not  only  more  than  three 
times,  but  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  times  the  quantity  of  plate 
which  would  have  been  in  it,  even  in  its  present  state  of  improve- 
ment, had  the  discovery  of  the  American  mines  never  been  made. 
So  far  Europe  has,  no  doubt,  gained  a  real  conveniency,  though 
surely  a  very  trifling  one.  The  cheapness  of  gold  and  silver 
renders  those  metals  rather  less  fit  for  the  purposes  of  money 
than  they  were  before.  In  order  to  make  the  same  purchases, 
we  must  load  ourselves  with  a  greater  quantity  of  them,  and 
carry  about  a  shilling  in  our  pocket,  where  a  groat  would  have 
done  before.  It  is  difficult  to  say  which  is  most  trifling,  this  in- 
conveniency,  or  the  opposite  conveniency."*  I  suspect  there  is 
also  a  little  exacrg-eration  here,  as  the  words  of  the  author  in 
another  place  would  prove.     "  If  you  except  iron,  the  precious 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  IV.  c.  I. 

35 


274  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

metals  are  more  useful  than  any  other.  As  they  are  less  liable 
to  rust  and  impurity,  they  can  more  easily  be  kept  clean ;  and 
the  utensils,  either  of  the  table  or  the  kitchen,  are  often,  upon 
tliat  account,  more  agreeable  when  made  of  them.  A  silver 
boiler  is  more  cleanly  than  a  lead,  copper,  or  tin  one ;  and  the 
same  quality  would  render  a  gold  boiler  still  better  than  a  silver 
one."  *  But,  if  we  should  admit  that  silver,  as  a  commodity 
possessing  many  useful  qualities,  is  valuable  on  other  accounts 
than  its  scarcity,  we  must  also  grant  that  a  very  large  share  of 
other  departments  of  the  expenditure  of  the  wealthy  consists  of 
mere  luxuries,  —  articles,  the  sole  gratification  afforded  by  which 
is,  that  they  alone  can  afford  to  possess  them.  It  is  then,  I  appre- 
hend with  some  truth,  that,  in  another  part  of  the  Wealth  of  Na- 
tions, the  author,  in  tracing  the  causes  which  brought  on  the 
diminution  of  tlie  power  of  the  great  feudal  lords,  and  ascribing 
them  chiefly  to  their  expending  their  revenues  on  the  produce  of 
foreign  commerce  and  manufacture,  instead  of  maintaining  a  large 
retinue,  characterizes  the  bulk  of  the  articles  constituting  this 
expenditure  as  useless  for  any  other  purpose  than  the  gratifica- 
tion of  a  selfish  vanity.  "  All  for  ourselves,  and  nothing  for 
other  people,  seems,  in  every  age  of  the  world,  to  have  been  the 
vile  maxim  of  the  masters  of  mankind.  As  soon,  therefore,  as 
they  could  find  a  method  of  consuming  the  whole  value  of  their 
rents  themselves,  they  had  no  disposition  to  share  them  with  any 
other  persons.  For  a  pair  of  diamond  buckles,  perhaps,  or  some- 
thing as  frivolous  and  useless,  they  exchanged  the  maintenance, 
or  what  is  the  same  thing,  the  price  of  the  maintenance,  of  a 
thousand  men  for  a  year,  and  with  it  the  whole  weight  and 
authority  which  it  could  give  them.  The  buckles,  however, 
were  to  be  their  own,  and  no  other  human  creature  was  to  have 
any  share  of  them  ;  whereas,  in  the  more  ancient  method  of 
expense,  they  must  have  shared  with  at  least  a  thousand  people. 
With  the  judges  that  were  to  determine  the  preference,  this  dif- 
ference was  perfectly  decisive  ;  and  thus,  for  the  gratification  of 
the  most  childish,  the  meanest,  and  the  most  sordid  of  all  vani- 
ties, they  gradually  bartered  their  whole  power  and  authority. 
Having  sold  their  birthright,  not  like  Esau,  for  a  mess  of  pottage 
in  time  of  hunger  and  necessity,  but,  in  the  wantonness  of  plenty, 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  D.  I.  c.  XI. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  275 

for  trinkets  and  baubles,  fitter  to  be  the  ^playthings  of  children 
than  the  serious  pursuits  of  men,  they  became  as  insignificant  as 
any  substantial  burgher  or  tradesman  in  a  city."  *  Even  here, 
too,  there  is  some  exaggeration ;  the  seat  of  a  wealthy  modern 
nobleman  exceeds  the  rude  castle  of  his  half  barbarous  ancestor, 
not  only  in  the  gratification  it  gives  to  the  personal  vanity  of  its 
possessor,  but  also  in  the  refined  enjoyments  it  affords  its  inmates. 
The  exact  proportion  between  the  mere  luxuj'ies  and  the  absolute 
enjoyments,  in  this  as  in  other  cases,  is  indeed  impossible  to 
ascertain.  The  former,  however,  undoubtedly  make  a  very  large 
portion  of  the  total  amount. 

As  we  descend  in  the  scale,  from  the  persons  and  mansions  of 
those  who  have  the  fortune  to  possess  hereditary  wealth  and 
hereditary  claims  to  good  society,  to  those  who  have  themselves 
accumulated,  or  are  employed  in  accumulating  riches,  and  raising 
themselves  to  distinction,  from  thence  to  the  lower  grades  of  life, 
and,  at  last,  to  the  mere  drudges  of  the  community,  we  shall  find 
every  step  we  take  marked  by  a  greater  prominence  in  two  cir- 
cumstances. The  amount  expended  on  what  are  neither  the 
necessaries  nor  conveniences  of  life  becomes  less,  but  that  expen- 
diture is  more  decidedly  mere  luxury.  Taste  gives  enjoyment 
even  to  the  wildest  extravagance  of  those  whose  chief  occupation 
has  been  to  devise  means  to  enjoy  life,  and  to  make  it  agreeable 
to  others  ;  but  he  whose  business  has  been,  or  is,  to  discover  the 
best  means  of  gaining  wealth,  though  he  may  yield  less  to  the 
desire  of  show,  does  so  more  thoroughly.  He  becomes  a  mere 
imitator,  and,  like  most  imitators,  is  apt  to  retain  all  the  defects 
and  to  drop  much  of  the  graces  of  his  copy. 

Vanity  is  combated  by  the  strength  of  the  social  and  benevolent 
affections  and  intellectual  powers.  The  former  represent  its 
excesses  as  hurtful,  the  latter  as  absurd.  The  same  principles, 
therefore,  which  give  strength  to  the  effective  desire  of  accumu- 
lation, diminish  the  sway  of  this  passion.  Hence,  in  all  societies, 
where  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation  is  high,  and  instruments 
consequently  at  orders  of  slow  return,  or  only  kept  at  orders  of 
quick  return  from  the  progress  of  improvement,  vanity  and  luxury 
will  prevail  but  little ;  while,  in  societies  where  the  effective 
desire  of  accumulation  is  low,   and  instruments,  not   in   conse- 

•  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  III.  c.  IV. 


276  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

quence  of  superabundance  of  materials  or  recent  improvements, 
but  of  the  inability  of  the  community  to  work  up  any  but  the 
best  materials,  are  at  orders  of  very  quick  return,  such  a  state 
of  things,  indicating  a  weakness  in  the  social  and  benevolent 
affections,  and  in  the  intellectual  powers,  is  generally  accom- 
panied by  great  strength,  and  the  general  prevalence  of  vanity 
and  luxury. 

Savages,  in  general,  are  remarkable  for  the  influence  which 
vanity  has  over  them,  and  for  their  propensity  to  give  up  any 
provision  they  may  have  made  for  the  future,  or  to  suffer  severe 
privations,  to  have  the  means  of  decking  their  persons  or  habita- 
tions with  something  rare  and  costly,  distinguishing  them  from 
others.  Beads,  bones,  plumes  of  feathers,  porcupine  quills,  gay 
colors,  and  all  the  rarities  of  their  native  abodes,  are  sought  out, 
and  wrought  up  by  them  with  great  labor.  They  besides  cut 
their  flesh,  or  tattoo  their  skin,  the  operation  costs  severe  pain,  and 
requires  some  skill,  and  the  bearing  the  testimony  of  this  outlay 
about  with  him  is  as  real  a  gratification  to  the  vanity  of  the  savage 
as  a  diamond  ring  to  that  of  an  European.  Their  intercourse 
with  civilized  nations  turns  their  desires  towards  fineries  of  Euro- 
pean manufacture.  Glass  beads,  trinkets  of  silver,  or,  if  it  be  not 
to  be  had,  of  tin,  fine  cloths,  showy  cottons  and  silks  then  make 
up  a  large  part  of  their  expenditure.* 

All  travellers  speak  of  the  vanity  of  the  Chinese,  and  of  their 
propensity  to  show.  Their  ghttering  gilding,  variegated  silks, 
and  crispy  cows'  hair  dyed  red,  with  them  the  most  splendid  of 
ornaments,  catch  the  eye  of  every  stranger,  and  contrast  strongly 
with  the  squalid  poverty  and  misery  that  is  the  constant  portion 
of  a  considerable  part  of  the  population,  and  occasionally  invade 
the  whole  mass.  One  of  the  father  Jesuits,  in  speaking  of  the 
necessity  of  his  brethren's  changing  their  habits  and  style  of 
living,  observes,  that,  "  besides  other  reasons,  they  are  obliged  to 
conform  to  the  general  custom  of  the  country ;  that  even  indi- 
viduals of  the  common  people,  when  they  go  to  visit  any  one, 
dress  themselves  in  silk,  and  have  themselves  carried  in  a  chair. 
This  does  not  pass  with  them  for  vanity,  or  affectation  of  gran- 
deur, but  for  an  evidence  that  they  esteem  the  persons  whom 
they  visit,  and  that  they  themselves  are  above  absolute  want, 
and  are  not  in  a  despicable  condition.'' f     This  attention  to  a 

*  See  note  I.  t  Lettres  Edificantes,  vol.  IX.  p.  531. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  277 

showy  exterior  seems  to  have  led  Mr.  Ellis  to  form  too  high  an 
estimate  of  the  general  opulence  and  comfort  of  the  people.  "  I 
have  been  much  struck,"  he  says,  "  in  all  Chinese  towns  and 
villages  with  the  number  of  persons  apparently  of  the  middling 
classes  ;  from  this  I  am  inclined  to  infer  a  wide  diffusion  of  the 
substantial  comforts  of  life,  and  the  consequent  financial  capacity 
of  the  country."  * 

The  Romans  are  still  more  conspicuous  instances  of  the  ex- 
travagance into  which  this  passion  betrays  nations.  Vanity 
reigned  throughout  their  expenditure.  The  decorations  of  their 
persons  and  mansions  were  a  show  of  the  most  costly  luxuries. 

"  Gemmas,  marmor,  ebur,  Tyrrhena  sigilla,  tabellas 
Argentum,  vestes  Gaetulo  murice  tinctas." 

The  head,  the  neck,  the  arms,  the  fingers,  of  a  Roman  lady  were 
loaded  with  jewels.  Pliny  relates  that  the  jewels  which  Lollia 
Paulina,  the  wife  of  Caligula,  even  after  her  repudiation,  carried 
on  her  person  when  attired  simply  for  paying  visits,  were  worth 
forty  millions  of  sesterces,  upwards  of  two  hundred  thousand 
pounds  sterhng.  According  to  the  same  author,  women  of  the 
greatest  simplicity  and  modesty  durst  no  more  go  without  dia- 
monds than  a  consul  without  the  marks  of  his  dignity.  The 
men,  also,  he  tells  us,  wore  on  their  fingers  a  variety  of  the  most 
expensive  rings,  rather  loading  than  adorning  them.  It  was 
common  to  have  tables  and  other  articles  of  ivory,  or  of  the 
precious  metals.  The  plate  and  tables  of  Heliogabalus  were  of 
pure  gold.  Examples  of  their  excessive  luxury  in  articles  for  the 
table  have  been  already  given,  and  many  more  might  be  added, 
were  it  necessary  to  repeat  what  has  been  often  narrated. f 

The  magnificence  of  the  eastern  Empire  was  perhaps  even 
greater  than  that  of  Rome  itself.  It  reflected  something  of  the 
excessive  splendor  of  the  Babylonish  and  other  Asiatic  monarchies. 
Chrysostom  thus  describes  the  palaces  of  the  nobles.  "  The  roofs 
made  of  wood  were  gilt.  The  doors,  even  the  long  folding  doors, 
were  of  ivory.  In  all  the  chambers  the  walls  were  incrusted  with 
marble.  If  they  were  only  of  common  stone,  it  was  covered  with 
plates  of  gold.     The  beams  and  ceilings  were  gilt,  and  the  apart- - 

*  Embassy  to  China,  Phil,  edition,  1818,  p.  237. 

t  The  reader  may  consult  Gibbon,  or  the  work  of  M.  d'Arnay  sur  la  vie 
privee  dee  Remains. 


278  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

ments  were  Inlaid  with  small  stones,  and  often  with  precious  stones. 
Over  the  floors  were  sometimes  spread  very  rich  carpets.  Their 
taste  for  magnificence  could  bear  nothing  of  the  ordinary  kind. 
In  the  rooms  were  great  pillars  of  marble,  with  their  chapiters 
gilt,  and  sometimes  the  whole  pillars  were  gilt,  statues  by  the 
most  excellent  artists,  pictures  and  mosaic  work.  The  beds 
were  usually  of  ivory  or  of  wood,  gilt  or  covered  with  silver 
plates,  and  sometimes  of  solid  silver  decorated  w^ith  gold.  All 
the  furniture  was  surprisingly  rich.  The  chairs  and  benches 
were  of  ivory ;  the  pots  and  other  vessels,  even  for  the  meanest 
uses,  were  of  gold  and  silver."  * 

Mr.  Say  has  remarked,  that  there  is  a  large  part  of  the  con- 
sumption of  the  French,  which  is  occasioned  by  their  excessive 
attention  to  mode  and  fashion,  and  that,  in  this  respect,  they  con- 
trast disadvantageously  with  the  English,  who  pay  more  attention 
to  comfort  and  convenience,  and  less  to  the  changing  fancies  by 
which  vanity  seeks  to  distinguish  itself.  Instruments  have  never, 
in  France,  been  wrought  up  to  orders  of  so  slow  return  as  in 
England. 

I  believe  it  will  be  found  that  the  strength  of  the  effective  de- 
sire  of  accumulation,  is  higher  among  the  workino;  classes  in 
North  America,  than  in  Europe.  The  influence  of  vanity  in 
many  cases,  is  certainly  less.  The  consumption,  for  instance,  of 
coarse  unbleached  cotton,  for  shirting,  is  very  great;  this  is  cer- 
tainly a  more  comfortable  wear  for  a  working  man  than  the  finer 
sorts.  It  washes  more  easily,  and  endures  more  fatigue.f  The 
finer  cottons,  also,  of  American  manufacture,  are  of  a  stouter 
and  more  substantial  fabric,  indicating  that  the  American  pur- 
chaser looks  more  to  the  wear  of  the  article,  the  European  to  the 
delicacy  of  the  fabric.  The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  woolens. 
A  substantial  farmer  in  England  would  scarcely,  as  one  of  the 
same  class  in  North  America,  think  himself  decently  clad  in  a 
winter's  suit  of  which  the  cloth  cost  only  a  dollar  per  yard,  though 
a  comfortable  and  durable  dress. 


*  Chrysostom  quoted  by  Jortin,  Ecclesiastical  History,  vol.  H.  p.  359. 

t  Until  about  two  years  since  almost  all  Upper  Canada  and  the  eastern 
townships  of  Lower  Canada,  were  supplied  with  American  cottons  of  this 
sort  smuggled  over.  Patterns  were  sent  to  Manchester,  and  imitation  Ameri- 
can cottons  got  out,  which  now  supply  the  Canadian  side  of  the  line ;  they 
do  not,  however,  as  far  as  1  have  been  able  to  learn,  pass  to  tlic  other. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  279 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that,  as  vanity  is  opposed  by  the  social 
and  benevolent  affections  and  intellectual  powers,  according  as 
the  one  or  the  other  of  these  preponderates,  the  manifestations 
of  that  luxury  which  yet  remains,  are  modified  into  some  resem- 
blance to  what  it  approves.  When  the  intellectual  powers  are 
strong,  this  passion  endeavors  to  elude  them  by  attaching  itself  to 
objects  that  it  can  represent  as  of  permanent  excellence.  When 
the  benevolent  affections  are  powerful,  it  endeavors  to  gain  its 
ends,  by  representing  them  as  proceeding  from  a  wish  to  gratify 
others,  and  to  share  with  them  things,  which  are  at  least  gener- 
ally esteemed  rare  and  valuable.  In  the  former  case  it  escapes 
opposition,  and  finds  vent  in  expensive  buildings  and  decorations  ; 
in  the  latter  in  sumptuous  entertainments,  and  luxuries  of  the 
table.  "  In  Holland,"  says  Mandeville,  "people  are  only  sparing 
in  such  things  as  are  daily  wanted  and  soon  consumed ;  in  what 
is  lasting  they  are  quite  otherwise ;  in  pictures  and  marble  they 
are  profuse ;  in  their  buildings  and  gardens  they  are  extravagant 
to  folly.  In  other  countries  you  may  meet  with  stately  courts 
and  palaces  of  great  extent  that  belong  to  princes  which  nobody 
can  expect  in  a  commonwealth,  where  so  much  equality  is  ob- 
served as  there  is  in  this;  but  in  all  Europe  you  shall  find  no 
private  buildings  so  sumptuously  magnificent,  as  a  great  many 
of  the  merchants'  and  other  gentlemen's  houses  are  in  Amster- 
dam, and  some  other  great  cities  of  that  province,  and  the  gener- 
ality of  them  that  build  there,  lay  out  a  greater  proportion  of 
their  estates  on  the  house  they  dwell  in,  than  any  people  upon 
the  earth."  *  Something  of  the  same  genius  may,  I  think,  be 
observed  in  the  expenditure  of  the  North  Americans.  Their 
houses  are  frequently  larger  than  they  have  use  for,  so  that  part 
of  them  remains  unoccupied.  They  are,  also,  often  built  with  a 
greater  regard  to  show  than  comfort.  There  is  little  substantial 
difference  between  a  gold  and  silver  watch,  but  that  the  former 
costs  double  of  the  latter.  Gold  watches  are  perhaps  more  com- 
mon in  North  America,  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  It 
is  pure  vanity  that  leads  to  so  general  an  adoption  of  this  luxury, 
by  classes  who  in  England  would  not  think  of  it,  but  it  is  a  vanity 
that  fixes  itself  on  something  permanent.  In  the  end,  there  is 
no  cheaper  way  in  which  a  man  can  write,  "  I  am  rich,  or  at  least, 

*  Remark  Q  Fable  of  the  bees. 


230  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

I  am  not  absolutely  poor,"  than  to  carry  a  gold  watch.  It  is 
ready  to  meet  all  occasions,  and  all  persons.*  In  Britain,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  luxuries  that  mix  themselves  with  the  virtues  of 
hospitality  are  more  apt  to  prevail.  There  rare  wines,  and  refine- 
ments in  the  dainties  of  the  table  are  more  common. 

Besides  the  varied  character  with  which  the  various  strength 
of  the  passion  stamps  different  people,  there  is  a  difference,  in 
this  respect,  in  the  same  people,  between  the  agricultural  popula- 
tion and  the  inhabitants  of  cities,  which  the  following  sagacious 
remarks  of  Montesquieu  seem  to  me  sufficiently  to  explain. 
"  The  extent  of  luxury  farther  depends  on  the  size  of  towns, 
and  especially  of  the  capital.  In  proportion  to  thejDopulousness 
of  towns,  the  inhabitants  are  filled  with  notions  of  vanity,  and 
actuated  by  an  ambition  of  distinguishing  themselves  by  trifles. 
If  they  are  numerous,  and  most  of  them  strangers  to  one  another, 
their  vanity  redoubles,  because  there  are  greater  hopes  of  suc- 
cess. As  luxury  inspires  these  hopes,  each  aiiian  assumes  the 
marks  of  a  superior  condition.  But,  by  endeavoring  thus  at  dis- 
tinction, every  one  becomes  equal  and  distinction  ceases ;  as  all 
are  desirous  of  respect,  nobody  is  regarded."  f 

In  the  country  it  is  different ;  every  one  is  known,  and  no  one 
can  succeed  in  passing  himself  off  for  other  than  he  is.  In  town 
Molly  Seagrim  would  have  been  admired  as  a  fantastical  fine 
lady ;  in  the  country  she  got  herself  mobbed.  To  account  for 
the  difference,  which  we  every  where  see  between  the  dissipa- 
tion of  the  town  and  the  economy  and  frugality  of  the  country, 
we  have  only  to  consider,  in  addition  to  this,  that  in  the  country 
there  are  always  considerable  facilities  and  encouragements,  for 
even  the  poorest  to  form  instruments,  unless  in  very  anomalous 
cases,  such  as  that  which  the  abomination  of  the  poor  laws  has 
introduced  into  England.  In  the  country  the  poor  man  can  de- 
vote all  his  spare  time,  perhaps  his  only  disposable  fund,  to  the 
cultivation  of  some  plot  of  ground,  to  repairing  his  house,  working 
in  his  garden,  and  procuring  food  for  his  cow  or  his  pig.  He  is 
induced  and  enabled  to  place  out  all  his  little  savings,  as  they 
come  in,  on  some  profitable  investment.^     Similar  circumstances 

*  These  observations  apply  to  the  population  of  British  descent  or  birth  on 
both  sides  of  the  line. 

t  Esprit  des  Lois,  B.  VII.  C.  11. 

t  One  who  has  happened  to  reside  in  any  part  of  Scotland,  where  facilities 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  ^Ql 

operate  similar  effects  on  the  man  in  middling  circumstances,  and 
even  on  the  rich  man.  It  is  the  town,  especially  the  metropolis, 
that  is  the  ruin  of  landed  proprietors. 

We  may  also,  in  a  similar  manner,  explain  the  tendency  of 
new  countries  to  engender  industry  and  frugality.  The  very 
scattered  state  of  the  population  effectually  keeps  down  vanity  ; 
the  absolute  necessity  of  working  up  the  materials  within  reach, 
rouses  the  accumulative  principle  to  action,  and  the  abundance 
of  these  materials  stimulates  it  to  unremitting  exertion.  There 
is  hence  no  better  school  for  the  dissolute  European  than  the 
back  woods.  After  a  dozen  years'  residence  in  them,  or  in  the 
clearings  to  which  he  has  helped  to  convert  them,  he  comes  out 
a  completely  altered  man. 

It  is  perhaps  proper  to  observe  here,  that  no  blame  can  attach 
to  individuals,  for  compliances  with  the  follies  to  which  the  passion 
of  vanity  prompts.  It  were  a  great  mistake  to  imagine  that  even 
its  absurdities  are  easily  avoidable.  It  is  in  vain  for  any  one  man 
to  oppose  general  opinions  and  practices,  however  ridiculous.  If 
he  does  so,  he  is  sure  to  encounter  greater  evils  than  a  compli- 
ance with  the  customs  of  the  society  would  inflict.  It  is  the 
business  of  the  poor  man  to  stand  well  with  the  world,  else  he 
will  scarcely  make  his  way  through  it.  It  is  his  business,  too,  to 
avoid  a  display  of  poverty.  One  is  sure  to  have  most  friends 
when  they  least  need  them.  "  Pour  s'etablir  dans  le  monde," 
says  Rochefoucauld,  "  on  fait  tout  ce  qu'on  pent  pour  y  paroitre 
etabli." 

"  Notwithstanding  my  poverty,"  writes  a  Jesuit  missionary 
from  China,  "  I  have  yet  been  able  to  relieve  the  extreme  misery 
of  two  poor  Christians.  The  one  had  his  house,  his  furniture, 
and  his  implements  of  trade,  destroyed  by  fire.  The  other  was 
by  profession  a  physician,  and  some  thieves  had  in  the  night 
carried  off  his  silk  dresses ;  they  might  as  well  have  stolen  his 

of  this  sort  exist,  must  have  had  opportunities  of  observing  very  remarkable 
instances  of  the  indefatigable  industry  they  excite.  Tracts  of  land,  so  very 
barren  and  impracticable  as  to  seem  condemned  to  perpetual  sterility,  may 
be  seen  in  process  of  being  converted  into  fertile  soil,  by  being  let  out  in 
small  patches  at  very  long  or  perpetual  leases.  A  portion  of  the  estate  of 
Pilfoddles,  near  Aberdeen,  almost  a  continuity  of  rock,  was,  I  recollect, 
so  reclaiming  about  fifteen  years  ago.  Those  small  feus,  as  they  are  termed, 
are  taken  by  laborers,  who  work  on  tliem  at  spare  hours  when  their  other 
occupations  fail  them. 

36 


282  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK, 

profession  and  his  reputation  ;  for  here  a  physician,  unless  dressed 
in  silk  and  cow's  hair,  passes  for  ignorant,  and  is  employed  by  no 
one."  The  doctor  who  had  lost  his  silken  robes  was  probably 
worse  off  than  the  mechanic ;  the  former  was  still  in  a  condition 
to  find  work,  the  latter  was  not.  He  probably,  indeed,  had 
nankin  left;  but  had  he  dressed  in  it,  especially  had  he  pretended 
to  say  it  was  the  more  comfortable  wear,  he  would  have  acted 
about  as  wisely  as  would  a  poor  young  M.  D.  in  England  who 
should,  in  cold  winter  days,  attire  himself  in  dreadnought.  Who 
would  trust  a  case  to  so  absurd  a  mortal  ? 

The  man  of  independent  fortune,  again,  though  he  need  fear 
no  very  serious  evils  from  setting  himself  in  direct  opposition  to 
received  modes  of  extravagance,  will  yet  certainly  incur  the 
charge  of  eccentricity,  perhaps  of  niggardly  parsimony.  These 
are  small  inconveniences,  but  he  consults  his  ease  in  avoiding 
them. 

A  person  is  then  only  properly  guilty  of  inflicting  an  injury  on 
the  community,  when  he  runs  into  both  acknowledged  extrava- 
gances and  real  luxuries.  He  is  censured  by  some,  but  envied 
and  followed  by  others.  An  individual  may,  on  the  other  hand, 
somewhat  advance  the  prosperity  of  the  whole  society,  or  at  least 
of  the  order  in  it  in  which  he  is  himself  ranked,  by  checking  his 
vanity  when  it  urges  him  to  adopt  luxuries,  permitted  to  his  for- 
tune, though  not  demanded  by  it.  The  nobleman  who,  in  equi- 
page and  lackeys,  keeps  somewhat  within  the  limits  which  his 
revenues  w^ould  afford  ;  the  tradesman's  wife,  who  dresses  in 
calico  instead  of  silk,  are  both,  to  a  small  extent,  public  benefac- 
tors. Luxury,  indeed,  generally  advances  or  recedes  slowly, 
and  can  scarce  be  successfully  encouraged  or  opposed  but  by 
degrees.  There  is  always,  and  in  every  society,  one  line,  to  go 
beyond  which  is  acknowledged  extravagance,  and  another,  not 
to  come  up  to  which  is  accounted  sordid  parsimony.  Crassus 
was  ashamed  to  use  some  of  his  plate,  the  cost,  even  to  him, 
appeared  too  great.*  It  is  invidious  to  run  to  expenses  which 
others  cannot  follow,  and  his  guests  would  have  felt  themselves 
too  much  outshone.  He  would  have  been  more  severely  cen- 
sured, had  he  ventured  to  entertain  them  in  the  simple  style  of 
their  ancestors. 

*  L.  vero  Crassus  orator  duos  scyphos  Mentoris  artificis  raanu  ccelatos  — 
scstertiis  C.  —  Confessus  tamen  est,  nunquam  se  his  uti  propter  verecundiara 
ausum.     Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  1.  XXXUI.  c.  11. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  233 

It  were  very  difficult  to  discover  a  society  where  vanity  does 
not  more  or  less  direct  the  necessary  expenditure.  Could  this 
be  done,  we  should  there  find  things  estimated  solely  by  their 
physical  qualities,  and  as  these  differ  greatly,  there  would  be 
great  differences  in  the  estimate  made  of  each.  Whatever  could 
really  set  forth  to  advantage  the  beauty  or  grace  of  form  or 
feature,  would  be  proportionally  prized,  as  would  real  beauty  in 
articles  of  furniture,  and  in  the  form  and  decorations  of  apartments. 
But  under  this  supposition,  other  circumstances  being  equal,  that 
would  always  be  prefeiTcd  which  was  cheapest.  If  two  articles, 
therefore,  were  presented,  of  which  the  one  w^as  of  much  greater 
real  beauty  than  the  other,  but  also  much  more  expensive,  though 
it  might  be  that  the  former  would  be  preferred,  its  high  cost 
would  be  esteemed  a  defect,  and  would  proportionally  diminish 
the  pleasure  yielded  by  it.  Very  expensive  articles  would,  if 
possible,  be  avoided.  A  very  costly  dress,  for  instance,  would 
affect  the  mind  of  such  spectators  disagreeably,  as  auguring  either 
a  want  of  taste,  or  want  of  beauty  in  the  wearer,  requiring  much 
adventitious  aid  to  help  out  the  deficiency.  It  would  produce  a 
disagreeable  feeling,  somewhat  similar  to  that  caused  by  the  view 
of  a  profuse  expenditure  of  animal  power,  bringing  about  only  a 
small  effect,  and  impressing,  therefore,  with  an  idea  of  defective 
mechanism.  In  such  a  society  the  notions  of  most  people,  and 
therefore  the  general  rules  of  conduct,  would  in  this  respect  be 
completely  different  from  what  they  generally  are. 

Sometimes,  though  rarely,  this  passion  instead  of  leading  to  dis- 
sipation, has  an  effect  similar  to  an  enlarged  providence,  and  causes 
the  formation  of  instruments  of  slowly  returning  orders.  This  is 
chiefly  remarkable  in  buildings  intended  to  be  permanent.  If  the 
materials  and  workmanship  of  these  are  not  substantial,  and  such 
as  insure  durability  to  the  edifice,  the  defect  is  commonly  per- 
ceptible, and  is  ridiculed  as  proceeding  from  poverty,  or  from 
dread  of  expense.  The  vanity  of  the  rich  man,  therefore,  here 
excites  him  to  work  for  succeeding  generations,  that  he  may  give 
the  present  a  high  idea  of  the  extent  of  his  resources.  He 
besides,  in  this  way,  hopes  to  make  it  apparent  to  his  cotempo- 
raries,  that  a  monument  of  his  prosperity  and  magnificence  will 
descend  to  future  times.  The  same  observation  will  apply  to 
public  works  undertaken  by  a  proud  and  extravagant  govern- 
ment.    Vanity  is   always  an  operator  in  their  formation,  and 


284  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

therefore  their  construction  is  never  altogether  regulated  by  the 
strength  of  the  accumulative  principle,  nor  are  they  instruments 
of  the  orders  which  it  would  indicate.  "  The  proud  minister  of 
an  ostentatious  court  may  frequently  take  pleasure  in  executing 
a  work  of  splendor  and  magnificence,  such  as  a  great  highway, 
which  is  frequently  seen  by  the  principal  nobility,  whose  applause 
not  only  flatters  his  vanity,  but  even  contributes  to  support  his 
interest  at  court.  But  to  execute  a  great  number  of  little  works, 
in  which  nothing  that  can  be  done  can  make  any  great  appear- 
ance, or  excite  the  smallest  degree  of  admiration  in  any  traveller, 
and  which,  in  short,  have  nothing  to  recommend  them  but  their 
extreme  utility,  is  a  business  which  appears  in  every  respect  too 
mean  and  paltry  to  merit  the  attention  of  so  great  a,  magistrate. 
Under  such  an  administration,  therefore,  such  works  are  almost 
always  entirely  neglected."  *  It  is,  however,  to  be  observed, 
that  in  regulating  public  works,  and  other  public  affairs,  men 
ought  to  pay  more  attention  to  the  concerns  of  a  distant  futurity 
than  in  the  management  of  their  private  affairs.  A  century  is  a 
small  part  of  the  existence  of  a  nation,  though  it  includes  that  of 
several  generations  of  individuals.  In  statesmen,  therefore,  in 
the  affairs  of  states,  the  accumulative  principTle  should  be  strong. 
Great  durability,  consequently,  in  public  works,  is  always  desira- 
ble. In  like  mannfer  governments  should  borrow  on  different 
principles  from  individuals.  No  one,  for  instance,  now  disputes 
that  it  should  have  been  the  policy  of  Great  Britain  to  have  bor- 
rowed as  much  on  long  annuities  as  possible.  The  misfortune 
is,  that  statesmen  generally  think  of  themselves  more  than  of 
their  country,  and  instead  of  grappling  with  present  evils,  let 
them  grow,  content  if  they  grow  quietly  and  imperceptibly,  and 
do  not  threaten  to  deprive  them  of  the  gratification  of  maintaining 
the  pride  of  their  power  for  a  few  years'  political  triumph.  This 
consideration  may  in  part  explain  the  cause  of  the  great  durability 
of  public  works  in  China.  It  shows  that  the  paternal  charac- 
ter of  the  government  is  in  some  measure  a  reality.  I  suspect, 
however,  that  the  contrast  between  the  construction  of  public 
and  private  works  there,  is  more  apparent  from  the  diminishing 
strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  in  that  great  Empire.  I 
shall  presently  have  occasion  to  adduce  some  reasons  for  this 
conjecture. 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  V.  c.  I. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  335 

It  is  perhaps  here  worthy  of  remark,  as  serving  to  show  that 
ostentation  and  extravagance  have  very  httle  connexion  with 
any  other  species  of  enjoyment,  but  that  which  places  its  gratifi- 
cations in  some  superiority  over  others,  that  in  proportion  as 
nations  are  addicted  to  vanity  and  luxury,  their  range  of  bodily 
enjoyments  seems  to  become  less.  Cleanliness,  for  instance, 
may  be  said  to  be  a  refined  sensuality ;  it  is  a  real  enjoyment,  on 
which  the  self-mortified  ascetic  wastes  not  his  care ;  and  we  find 
that  least  attention  is  paid  to  it  by  the  vain,  and  most  by  the 
provident,  so  that  other  things  being  equal,  where  the  effective 
desire  of  accumulation  is  high,  there  it  is  most  scrupulously  ob- 
served ;  where  it  is  low,  it  is  little  regarded. 

The  North  American  Indians  seem  really  not  to  have  any 
notion  of  its  existence.  It  appears  to  them,  in  other  people,  as 
an  affected  and  unaccountable  scrupulosity,*  The  Chinese  are 
described  as  disgustingly  filthy.  The  Romans  were  certainly, 
as  may  be  gathered  from  various  passages  in  the  Latin  writers, 
far  from  being  what  we  would  esteem  cleanly.  An  English 
gentleman  would  not  think  of  writing  to  his  friend  that  if  he 
dined  with  him  he  should  find  well-washed  dishes. 

Ne  non  cantharus  et  lanx 


Ostendat  tibi  te  ;  t 

Horace  introduces  a  fanciful  epicure,  complaining  of  unwashed 
goblets,  want  of  table  napkins  and  saw  dust,  as  taking  away  from 
the  pleasures  of  a  sumptuous  feast.  J  In  modern  times  Holland  has 
been  esteemed  the  country  of  cleanliness ;  England  perhaps 
ranks  next. 

Improvement  can  never  facilitate  the  production  of  mere  luxu- 
ries. It  cannot  do  so  because  it  is  not  the  thing  itself,  but  merely 
the  quantity  of  labor  embodied  in  it  that  vanity  prizes.  Diminish 
the  labor  necessary  for  its  production,  and  you  take  away  what 
this  passion  covets.  It  will,  therefore,  either  consume  a  propor- 
tionally larger  quantity  of  the  commodity,  or  will  turn  itself  for 
its  gratification  to  other  commodities  of  greater  rarity,  which  a 
greater  amount  of  labor  that  is,  or  some  equivalent  to  it  is  neces- 
sary to  purchase. 

*  See  note  J. 
t  Hor.  Epist.  Liv.  I.  V. 

X  Sat.  IV.  L.  II.     The  Romans,  it  is  true,  bathed  frequently,  but  then  they 
had  neither  soap  nor  linen,  and  woollens  were  high  priced. 


2S6  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK 

Pearls,  as  ornaments,  probably  derive  nearly  their  whole  value 
from  their  scarcity.  Reduce  their  price  to  one  half,  and  the 
quantity  worn  to  produce  the  same  effect  would  require  to  be 
doubled.  Render  them  obtainable  •  for  a  trifle,  and  they  could 
be  no  longer  worn.  It  has  been  more  than  once  attempted  to 
cultivate  them,  that  is  to  make  the  oyster  that  produces  them, 
bear  them  universally  and  plentifully.  Linneus  conceived  it 
practicable  by  pricking  the  animal,  and  other  managements,  but 
the  scheme  has  never  succeeded.  Had  it  done  so  fully,  it  had 
certainly  been  useless.  Suppose  it  had  diminished  the  labor 
necessary  to  procure  them  by  one  half,  then  a  lady  to  be  as  richly 
dressed  as  before,  would  just  have  had  to  carry  double  the  num- 
ber. Had  the  facility  been  farther  increased,  so  that  they  be- 
came as  plentiful  as  glass  beads,  they  would  then  have  become 
as  useless.  If  every  peasant  girl  could  afford  to  have  a  string  of 
them,  no  lady  would  wear  them,  and  when  ladies  ceased  to  wear 
them,  peasant  girls  would  lay  them  aside.*  It  is  the  same  with 
all  other  articles  that  are  mere  luxuries.  As  they  only  serve  foi 
marks  of  the  riches  of  the  individuals  possessing  them,  every 
diminution  made  in  the  labor  embodied  in  them  diminishes,  in 
a  proportionate  degree,  their  fitness  for  the  purpose  for  which 
they  are  employed.  Should  topazes  become  as  plentiful  as 
cairngorums  they  would  be  no  more  esteemed. 

There  are  few  commodities,  however,  in  which  utility,  as  well 
as  vanity,  has  not  a  considerable  share.  On  such  the  effects  of 
iiliprovements  are  twofold.  As  far  as  they  possess  inherent 
utiUty,  it  tends  to  carry  them  first,  and  subsequently  all  other 
instruments  in  the  society,  towards  the  more  quickly  returning 
orders.  In  so  far  again  as  they  are  mere  luxuries,  it  renders  a 
greater  quantity  of  them  necessary,  or  unfits  them  altogether  for 
the  supply  of  the  demands  of  vanity.  There  is  hence  a  sort  of 
strife  between  the  two  principles,  the  one  seeking  to  disparage 
and  discard  such  commodities,  the  other  to  retain  them.  The 
result  seems  mainly  determined  by  the  proportion  of  the  one,  or 
the  other  sort  of  qualities,  existing  in  the  article  in  question,  and 
by  the  degree  in  which  its  consumption  is  apparent.     It  may 

*  "  The  price  of  pearls  in  modern  times  has  very  much  declined ;  partly,  no 
doubt,  from  change  of  manners  and  fashions ;  but  more  probably,  from  the 
admirable  imitation  of  pearls  that  may  be  obtained  at  a  very  low  price."  Mc'- 
CuUoch's  Dictionary  of  Commerce.     They  are  also  less  worn. 


o 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  £87 

have  so  many  useful  and  agreeable  qualities,  that  however  easily- 
obtained,  or  however  openly  consumed,  it  cannot  be  driven  out 
of  use.  All  that  vanity  can  do  with  regard  to  such  articles,  is, 
to  consume  them  when  they  are  most  scarce.  Some  of  the  Ro- 
mans never  ate  fish  but  when  at  a  distance  from  the  sea,  nor 
flesh  but  when  on  the  sea-shore.  Green  peas  become  luxuries 
at  Christmas.  Should  the  best  flannel  cost  only  two  pence  a 
yard,  it  would  still  be  worn  by  all  who  now  wear  it,  and  by  many 
who  do  not.  Its  consumption  is  not  conspicuous.  On  the  con- 
trary, were  any  particular  fine  fabric  of  cotton  presently  used  for 
gowns,  and  costing  two  shihings  per  yard,  in  consequence  of  im- 
provement to  be  sold  for  two  pence  per  yard,  it  could  no  longer 
be  worn.  It  would  no  longer  be  dress  for  any  rank,  and  its  con- 
sumption would  therefore  diminish  or  cease.  About  ten  years 
ago,  what  are  called  leghorn  bonnets  were  fashionable,  and  much 
worn  in  Canada  and  the  United  States.  They  then  cost  three 
or  four  pounds.  They  may  be  had  now  for  a  few  shillings,  and 
no  one  wears  them;  straw  which  were  then  disused  but  by  the 
less  wealthy,  are  now  preferred;  they  are  dearer  and  less  durable. 
People  who  regard  appearances,  and  are  accustomed  to  see 
and  be  seen,  can  scarce  expect  that  any  improvement  will  mate- 
rially diminish  their  yearly  outlay  for  dress,  for  themselves  or 
families.  Whatever  proportion  of  their  revenues  they  may  have 
found  it  necessary  so  to  expend,  in  order  to  maintain  the  appear- 
ance their  rank  required,  they  may  fairly  reckon  they  will  have 
to  expend  in  future.  The  gentleman,  the  tradesman,  the  lady, 
the  servant  girl,  must  alike  obey  the  laws  which  the  strength  of 
this  principle  imposes  on  the  society.  Whatever  advance  im- 
provement may  make,  they  must  still  lay  their  account  with  being 
looked  down  on  by  their  respective  associates,  or  having  to  wear 
garments  just  as  expensive  as  ever,  without  being  better  looking, 
or  more  comfortable,  in  a  degree  answering  by  any  means  to  the 
facilities  of  fabrication  effected  by  the  successful  efforts  of  inven- 
tion. In  so  far  as  their  dress  is  a  mark  of  their  riches,  a  sort  of 
inscription  they  bear  about  with  them,  as  JMr.  Storch  expresses 
it,  serving  to  impress  others  with  the  belief  of  their  possessing  a 
certain  amount  of  wealth,  or  holding  such  a  rank  in  society,  it  is 
exactly  analogous  to  coin.  Double  the  facility  of  production,  the 
quantity  carried  about,  to  answer  the  same  purpose,  must  be 
doubled,  or  recourse  must  be  had  to  some  other  material.     Pur- 


288  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

pie,  or  scarlet,  served  among  the  Romans  for  a  mark  of  this  sort ; 
only  the  rich  could  afford  to  wear  it.  Although  still  admired  as 
a  color,  it  no  longer  serves  the  purpose,  and  is  comparatively 
little  used.  Lace,  among  the  moderns,  was  once  a  mark  of  the 
same  kind.  Invention  has  so  far  facilitated  the  production  of 
some  sorts  of  it,  that  the  wearing  them  no  longer  confers  distinc- 
tion. Increase  that  facility,  till  a  yard  of  the  finest  sorts  may  be 
had  for  a  few  half  pence,  and  it  is  questionable  if  the  beauty  of 
the  fabric  would  preserve  it  as  an  article  of  dress  wearable  by 
any  one.* 

To  articles  of  furniture,  of  diet,  to  the  equipage  of  the  rich, 
and  to  the  whole  apparent  expenditure  of  every  class,  similar 
observations  will  apply.  A  greater  or  less  part  of  the  effects  of 
improvement,  is  absorbed  by  vanity  in  them  all,  and  conse- 
quently lost. 

*  "  At  Hornton,  in  Devon,  the  manufacture. had  arrived  at  that  perfection, 
was  so  tasteful  in  the  design,  and  so  delicate  and  beautiful  in  the  workman- 
ship, as  not  to  be  excelled  by  the  best  specimens  of  Brussels  lace.  During 
the  late  war,  veils  of  this  lace  were  sold  in  London  from  twenty  to  one  hun- 
dred guineas ;  they  are  now  sold  from  eight  to  fifteen  guineas.  The  effects 
of  the  competition  of  machinery,  however,  were  about  this  time  felt;  and  in 
1815,  the  broad  laces  began  to  be  superseded  by  the  new  manufacture.  Steam 
power  was  first  introduced  by  Mr.  John  Lindsay,  in  1815-16 ;  but  did  not 
come  into  active  operation  till  1820.  It  became  general  in  1822-23;  and  a 
great  stimulus  was  at  this  period  given  to  the  trade,  owing  to  the  expiration 
•of  Mr.  Heathcoat's  patent,  the  increased  application  of  power,  and  the  perfec- 
tion to  which  the  different  hand  frames  had  by  this  time  been  brought.  A 
temporary  prosperity  shone  on  the  trade  ;  and  numerous  individuals  —  cler- 
gymen, lawyers,  doctors,  and  others  —  readily  embarked  capital  in  so  tempt- 
ing a  speculation.  Prices  fell  in  proportion  as  production  increased,  but  the 
demand  was  immense  ;  and  the  Nottingham  lace  frame  became  the  organ  of 
general  supply,  rivaling  and  supplanting,  in  plain  nets,  the  most  finished  pro- 
ductions of  France  and  the  Netherlands.  Lace,  having  become  a  common  orna- 
ment, easily  accessible  to  all  classes,  has  lost  its  attractions  in  the  fashionable 
circles,  by  which  it  was  formerly  patronized,  so  that  very  rich  lace  is  no  longer 
in  demand.  And  many  articles  of  dress,  which,  in  our  drawing  rooms  and  ball 
rooms,  lately  consisted  of  the  most  costly  and  tasteful  patterns  in  lace,  are 
now  either  superceded  or  made  of  different  manufacture.  —  Many  of  the  em- 
broiderers in  Nottingham  are  at  present  unemployed  ;  and  even  for  the  most 
splendid  and  beautiful  specimens  of  embroidery,  some  of  which  have  occupied 
six  weeks,  working  six  days  a  week  and  fourteen  hours  a  day,  the  young  women 
have  not  earned  more  than  one  shilling  a  day.  The  condition  of  the  plain 
lace  workers  is  still  more  deplorable  —  they  cannot  obtain  more,  on  an  average, 
than  two  shillings  and  six  pence  a  week,  and  working  twelve  or  fourteen 
hours  per  day,  for  their  anxious  and  unremitting  labor."! 

t  McCulloch's  Dictionary  of  Commerce 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  289 

In  as  far  again  as  any  article  is  not  a  luxury,  in  as  far  as  it  is 
beyond  the  reach  of  vani'ty,  and  consumed  to  supply  some  real 
want,  not  to  display  superiority,  in  so  far  improvement  is  really 
felt.  Were  invention  to  discover  some  substance  having  all  the 
properties,  and  the  exact  appearance  of  good  leather,  and  capa- 
ble of  being  formed  for  one  sixth  of  the  outlay,  it  would  be  an 
effort  of  that  power  very  sensibly  felt.  Boots  would  probably 
indeed  cease  to  be  worn  by  the  higher  classes,  unless  when  on 
horseback,  but  good  shoes  cannot  be  dispensed  with  by  any  class. 
They  are  worn  for  comfort,  not  for  show,  and  the  diminution  in 
the  outlay  necessary  to  procure  them,  would  constitute  a  real 
improvement.  Improvements  in  mining  and  modes  of  transport- 
ing coal,  diminishing  the  labor  necessary  to  bring  them  to  market, 
are  also  sensibly  felt,  they  facilitate  the  supply  of  real  wants,  and 
move  instruments  towards  the  more  quickly  returning  orders. 
Improvements  hi  the  manufacture  of  iron,  also  escape  vanity  and 
are  real.  Could  ingenuity  discover  a  methodof  quarrying  stones 
and  reducing  them  to  shape,  or  of  making  bricks  at  one  half  of 
the  present  outlay,  it  would  be  a  real  improvement :  only  a  small 
part  of  it  would  be  lost  on  vanity  ;  for,  unless  in  the  highest 
classes,  a  dwelling-house  is  much  more  for  comfort  than  for  show. 
Could  the  substance  of  potatoes  be  converted  into  an  article  ex- 
actly similar  to  wheaten  flour,  and  requiring  only  half  the  outlay, 
that  would  also  be  a  very  great  improvement.  Improvements 
too  in  the  fabrication  of  articles  of  glass,  and  earthen  ware,  are 
in  a  great  degree  real.  Could  the  manufacture  of  plate  glass  be 
so  facilitated,  that  it  might  be  had  for  only  double  the  price  of 
common  window  glass,  the  substitution  of  the  one  for  the  other 
could  not  be  called  a  luxury,  but  a  real  iuiprovement,  an  increased 
^provision  for  the  supply  of  future  wants.  In  Great  Britain  inge- 
nuity has  succeeded,  in  recent  years,  in  very  greatly  facilitating 
the  manufacture  of  cotton  fabrics.  The  increased  facility  of  pro- 
duction has  in  part  effected  a  real  improvement,  but  certainly  has 
in  a  great  measure  also  been  absorbed  by  vanity.  Much  less 
labor  is  now  necessary  to  produce  articles  of  dress  of  this  material 
which  are  not  seen,  or  are  but  little  seen  ;  but  for  dresses  worn 
in  public,  the  expenditure  is  certainly  not  diminished,  or  the 
beauty  or  comfort  of  the  article  increased,  in  proportion  to  the 
increased  facility  of  production.  The  finer  sorts  of  these  stuffs 
are  perhaps  produced  with  ten  times  the  facility  they  were  twenty 

37 


290  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

years  ago,  yet  probably  the  whole  annual  expenditure  which  a 
young  female  makes  for  such  part  of  her  apparel  as  is  formed  of 
these  stuffs,  is  little  less  than  what  her  mother,  twenty  years  ago, 
was  accustomed  to  make,  and  certainly  she  is  not  ten  times  more 
becomingly  or  more  comfortably  clad.  The  great  cheapness 
indeed  of  even  the  finest  and  most  delicate  of  these  fabrics,  is 
such  that  vanity  seems  to  be  discarding  them.  The  utmost 
efforts  of  ingenuity  can  scarcely  embody  a  sufficiency  of  labor  in 
them,  or  vary  them  so  as  to  make  them  a  fit  full  dress  for  even  a 
tradesman's  wife. 

All  luxuries  occasion  a  loss  to  the  society,  in  proportion  to 
their  amount.  The  industry  employed  in  their  formation,  gen- 
erates no  provision  for  future  wants,  and  may  be  said  to  be  ex- 
pended in  vain.  Taking  the  whole  society  as  a  body,  it  supplies 
no  wants.  It  gives  no  absolute  enjoyment,  it  is  all  relative,  as 
much  as  one  is  raised  by  it,  another  is  depressed,  the  superiority 
of  one  man  being  here  equivalent  to  the  inferiority  of  another. 
To  increase  the  facilities  of  production  of  luxuries,  therefore,  brings 
no  addition  to  the  absolute  capital.  It  is  precisely  analogous  to 
increasing  the  facilities  for  the  production  of  the  metals  used  for 
coin,  merely  adding  to  the  bulk  circulated,  and  not  enabling  it  in 
any  degree  to  perform  its  ofhce  better.  The  expense,  too,  occa- 
sioned by  keeping  up  the  circulation  of  the  one  and  the  other, 
and  consequent  diminution  of  the  national  revenue,  is  equally  a 
loss.  It  is  much  greater,  however,  in  the  case  of  luxuries  than 
of  coinage,  because  the  whole  amount  of  the  former,  in  all  socie- 
ties, is  probably  much  greater  than  that  of  the  latter ;  and  because 
it  consists,  in  general,  of  materials  far  more  easily  destroyed.  To 
the  loss  thus  occasioned  by  vanity  the  term  dissipation  may  be 
applied.  Its  amount  cannot,  for  reasons  already  stated,  be  easily 
ascertained,  nor  is  it  necessary  for  our  purpose  that  it  should.  It 
is  sufficient  to  observe,  that,  in  all  societies  which  have  hitherto 
existed,  it  has  been  considerable ;  and  that  it  seems  to  be  deter- 
mined, in  every  society,  by  the  strength  of  the  selfish,  and  weak- 
ness of  the  intellectual  powers  and  benevolent  afiections ;  and, 
consequently,  that  it  is  inversely  as  the  strength  of  the  accumu- 
lative principle. 

Though  vanity,  in  this  way,  operates  directly  to  retard  the 
increase  of  the  stock  of  the  society,  some  of  its  indirect  effects 
have,  notwithstanding,  an  opposite  tendency.     As  an  antagonist 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  ggi 

to  the  restraining  influence  of  the  spirit  of  imitation,  it  is  often  a 
very  useful  auxihary  in  the  spread  of  inventions.  These,  without 
its  aid,  might  perhaps  have  been  often  shut  up  in  the  countries 
where  they  were  discovered  ;  certainly  they  would  not  have 
passed  from  region  to  region,  so  rapidly  as  they  have  sometimes 
succeeded  in  doing.  Under  the  guise  of  foreign  rarities,  and 
consequently  luxuries,  they  have  made  their  way  easily ;  the 
mask  rubbing  off  by  time,  a  substratum  of  utility  has  been  found 
under  it. 

Soap  seems  to  have  been  first  made  in  the  midst  of  the  ashes 
and  tallow  of  Germany  and  Gaul.  It  came  to  Rome  as  a  luxury, 
in  the  shape  of  a  pigment  for  the  hair.  In  the  course  of  time,  its 
superior  detergent  qualities  becoming  apparent,  and  the  manu- 
facture being  introduced,  this  article,  so  essential  to  the  comfort  ■ 
of  the  modern  European,  passed  entirely  out  of  the  rank  of  luxu- 
ries. Vanity  brought  silk  to  Europe.  At  first  it  was  almost 
entirely  a  luxury.  As  a  garment  it  has  often  more  beauty  than 
any  other  texture ;  but  when  it  exchanged  for  its  weight  in  gold,  its 
beauty  must  have  constituted  but  a  small  part  of  the  enjoyment 
derived  from  the  W'caring  of  it.  In  some  fabrics  it  is  scarcely  now 
a  luxury ;  its  qualities  of  durability  and  beauty  seem  to  give  it  a 
real  superiority,  sufficient  to  render  the  superior  price  paid  for  it 
no  dissipation.  Increase  that  facihty  very  much,  and  some  of 
these  fabrics  would  be  discarded  by  vanity.  Were  velvet  to 
become  as  cheap  as  cloth,  it  would  not  be  worn  by  the  higher 
classes;  its  greater  durability  would  make  it  too  economical  for 
them,  and  its  adoption  by  the  lower  would  render  it  vulgar. 
Fabrics  of  cotton  were  at  first  luxuries.  They  would  not,  per- 
haps, have  been  worn  had  they  not  had  rarity,  and  consequently 
vanity,  to  recommend  them.  Cashmere  shawls  are  so  now ;  in 
time  they  too  may  cease  to  be  so.  The  process,  indeed,  has 
made  some  progress  in  France,  where,  I  have  been  told,  the 
breed  of  the  animal  yielding  the  wool  has  been  introduced,  and 
the  manufacture  considerably  advanced. 

Vanity,  also,  sometimes  facilitates  real  improvement,  by  the 
high  estimate  it  gives  to  articles  that  are  mere  luxuries,  but  con- 
tain the  rudiments  of  extensive  utilitj^  It  thus  stimulates  inven- 
tion to  facilitate  their  production,  develope  their  utility,  and  put 
them  out  of  the  class  of  luxuries. 

Glass  was  at  first  a  luxury.     It  was  prized  by  the  Romans  for 


292  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

show,  as  glass  beads  are  now  by  savages.  Ingenuity  at  length 
perfected  the  various  processes  of  the  manufacture,  and  made  it 
an  article  extensively  supplying  real  wants.  The  diamond  is  at 
present  chiefly  a  luxury;  should  art  ever  succeed  in  giving  at  will 
a  crystalline  structure  to  simple  carbon,  so  as  to  convert  it  into 
that  substance,  it  would  pass  from  the  rank  of  luxuries,  and  would 
too  contribute  largely  to  the  supply  of  real  wants.  The  high 
estimation  in  which  it  is  held  serves  at  present  to  turn  the  atten- 
tion of  ingenuity  to  such  a  project. 

These,  however,  are  indirect,  and,  as  it  wei'e,  accidental  effects 
of  luxury  ;  its  direct  operation  is  always  to  dissipate  a  part  of  the 
national  funds  proportioned  to  its  strength. 

The  different  effects  arising  from  the  action  of  the  inventive 
faculty,  as  it  operates  on  utilities  or  luxuries,  afford  a  means  of 
distinguishing  the  one  from  the  other.  The  progress  of  invention 
extends  the  consumption  of  utilities ;  it  diminishes  the  consump- 
tion of  pure  luxuries.  Were  steel,  platina,  or  plate  glass,  pro- 
duced by  one 'tenth  of  the  labor  they  presently  cost,  their  con- 
sumption would  be  very  much  increased.  Were  pearls,  or  lace, 
to  be  got  for  one  tenth  of  the  labor  that  must  now  be  given  for 
them,  they  would  go  completely  out  of  fashion.  The  additional 
amount  of  utilities  produced,  occupying  the  place  of  instruments 
that  cost  more  labor,  and  did  not  return  more  abundantly,  their 
consumption  implies  a  diminution  in  the  cost  of  the  whole  stock 
of  the  society  as  compared  with  the  returns  made  by  it,  and 
consequently  the  progress  of  that  stock  to  an  order  of  quicker 
return.  The  facility  given  to  the  production  of  luxuries  has 
rather  a  contrary  effect,  exciting  to  the  greatest  outlay  of  labor 
of  which  the  accumulative  principle  is  capable,  previous  to  the 
abandoning  of  the  manufacture. 


PART  II. 

In  the  preceding  part  of  this  chapter  we  have  considered  the 
loss  occasioned  to  the  stock  of  societies,  from  part  of  the  products 
that  would  otherwise  be  yielded  by  the  industry  of  their  members, 
applied  to  the  formation  of  instruments,  being  dissipated  through 
the  operation  of  an  affection  of  the  mind.  We  are  now  to  con- 
sider a  similar  loss,  occasioned  by  a  peculiarity  in  the  combined 
corporeal  and  mental  constitution  of  man. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  293 

Tliere  are  various  matters  that  physiologists  have  attempted 
to  comprehend  under  the  general  term  of  narcotics,  of  which  the 
primary  operation  is  directed  to  the  nervous  system.  What  their 
ukimate  effects  may  be  on  man,  considered  not  in  the  individual, 
but  in  the  species,  this  is  not  the  fit  place  to  discuss.  There  are, 
however,  some  general  laws  that  belong  to  them,  which  it  con- 
cerns the  present  inquiry  to  notice. 

1.  A  gradual  increase  in  the  quantity  consumed  does  not  pro- 
duce a  correspondent  increase  in  the  effects  first  experienced. 
One  commencing  with  twenty  drops  of  laudanum,  if  he  make  a 
habit  of  consuming  that  drug,  and  attempt  to  continue  the  effects 
first  experienced,  must  double,  quadruple,  or  farther  increase  the 
quantity.  A  few  glasses  of  wine  will  at  first  cause  a  degree  of 
exhilaration  equal  to  what  it  will  take  a  bottle  or  two  finally 
to  produce.  Unlike  things  consumed  to  satisfy  hunger,  thirst, 
or  w^armth,  their  effects  are  by  no  means  determined  by  the 
quantity  consumed.  We  may  reckon  that  a  slice  of  bread, 
or  a  glass  of  water,  will  one  year  hence  supply  the  wants  for 
which  any  individual  consumes  them,  as  well  as  now,  however 
great  his  consumption  of  these  articles  may  be  in  the  interim. 
But  if  a  person  now  daily  drinks  a  glass  of  brandy,  there  is  no 
saying  how  many  glasses,  ten  years  hence,  he  may  find  himself 
obliged  to  take  to  produce  the  same  effects.  This  is  a  property 
common  to  all  narcotics,  though  not  in  an  equal  degree.  The 
effects  of  tea  and  coffee  on  the  nervous  system  diminish  through 
use,  as  well  as  those  of  brandy  and  tobacco,  though  not  in  an 
equal  degree,  and  the  quantity  taken  may  be  gradually  very 
greatly  augmented. 

2.  The  temporary  exhilaration  produced  by  the  consumption 
of  these  substances  is  followed  by  a  temporary  depression.  They 
produce  evil  as  w-ell  as  good.  Whether,  when  taken  in  small 
quantities,  the  former  overbalance  the  latter,  or  the  latter  the 
former,  is  a  point  undetermined ;  but  it  is  well  known  that  as  the 
quantity  is  increased,  the  evil  effects  predominate,  until  at  last 
both  the  bodily  and  mental  energies  sink  under  their  operation. 
Hence  what  is  called  the  abuse,  to  which  the  consumption  of  all 
this  class  of  commodities  is  apt  to  lead.  The  labor  bestowed  on 
them  is  very  often  not  only  useless,  but  absolutely  prejudicial  to 
the  society. 

3.  Their  consumption  is  regulated,  in  a  great  degree,  by  the 


294  ^^  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

influence  of  the  imitative  propensity.  We  may  form  a  near 
guess  whether  a  person  is  in  tlie  custom  of  drinking  wine,  or  tea, 
or  cofiiee,  or  smoking  tobacco,  from  knowing  the  habits  of  his 
associates. 

4.  Their  consumption  is  also  greatly  regulated  by  the  passion 
of  vanity.  This  is  especially  the  case,  as  1  have  already  re- 
marked, in  vinous  liquors.  These  liquors  derive  their  narcotic 
properties  from  containing  a  portion  of  the  fluid  termed  alcohol. 
In  addition  to  its  power  over  the  nervous  system,  this  substance 
has  that  of  preventing,  or  retarding,  the  changes  that  naturally 
go  on  in  vegetable  juices.  Liquors,  therefore,  impregnated  with 
it,  long  retain  their  peculiar  flavor  and  other  properties,  and  may 
thus  be  consumed  in  times  and  at  places  remote  from  those  in 
which  they  were  produced.  This  serves  to  render  them  matters 
on  which  vanity  can  easily  lay  hold  and  convert  into  luxuries. 
Besides  serving  as  marks  to  this  passion,  the  vegetable  juices 
and  salts  contained  in  these  liquors  have  probably  other  eflects. 
They  afford  a  certain  degree  of  nourishment,  and  present  the 
spirit  in  a  diluted  form.  Hence  a  part  of  their  medicinal  effects, 
and  hence,  also,  their  greater  safety  as  narcotics.  The  stomach 
gets  loaded  with  them  sooner  than  with  diluted  alcohol,  which 
might  be  absorbed  with  less  immediate  inconvenience  to  the 
digestive  powers,  though  its  permanent  effects  may  be  more 
pernicious.  In  this  respect  there  is  a  real  cause  for  the  prefer- 
ence given  them,  although,  in  this  view  also,  beer  is  the  best, 
because  the  safest  of  all  hquors. 

The  fermented  liquors,  produced  from  the  juice  of  the  grape, 
are  most  esteemed  in  Europe.  It  is,  however,  at  least  problem- 
atical whether  they  have,  or  have  not,  any  great,  or  indeed  any 
real  superiority.  Their  chemical  analysis  does  not  show  much 
grounds  for  the  preference,  and  we  would  not,  a  priori,  conceive 
that  the  substances,  which  by  the  art  of  the  chemist  may  be  made 
into  a  compound  not  to  be  distinguished  from  them,  would  pro- 
duce a  liquid  pecuharly  beneficial  to  the  constitution,  or  agreea- 
ble to  the  palate.*     If  we  inquire  into  the  tastes  of  other  nations, 

*  Many  thousand  pipes  of  spoiled  cider  are  annually  brought  lo  London 
from  the  country,  for  the  purpose  of  being  converted  into  port  wine.  One, 
probably,  of  the  least  noxious  of  the  methods  of  producing  the  change,  is  to 
add  to  the  cider  beet  root  juice,  alcohol,  logwood,  and  Rhatany  root.  The 
interior  of  the  cask  is  then  crusted  with  supertartrite  of  potash,  colored  with 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  295 

we  find,  by  the  testimony  of  travellers,  that  over  the  greater  part 
of  the  world,  they  are  rather  disrelished.  Captain  Basil  Hall,  in 
his  voyage  to  Loo  Choo,  says  he  has  found  cherry  brandy  the 
most  generally  esteemed  liquor  among  all  nations,  and  we  may 
see  a  reason  for  the  preference  given  to  such  a  beverage.  The 
sensation,  with  which  even  diluted  alcohol  at  first  affects  the 
organs  of  taste,  is  unpleasant.  Most  people  take  some  plan  to 
subdue  or  correct  its  harshness.  The  mixture  of  matters  them- 
selves pleasant  in  flavor  or  taste,  as  in  that  sort  of  cordial,  one 
would  suppose  the  most  efi:ectual  and  agreeable  means  of  doing  so. 
The  Chinese  have  grapes,  but  make  no  use  of  them  for  the  forma- 
tion of  fermented  liquors.  Our  European  travellers  tax  them  in 
consequence  with  want  of  taste  and  ingenuity.  They,  in  turn, 
are  surprised  at  our  folly  in  manufacturing  what  seems  to  them  a 
more  harsh,  and  unpleasant,  and  is  generally  a  far  more  expensive 
beverage  than  theirs.  Which  has  most  reason  on  his  side,  the 
European  or  the  Chinese,  is  difficult  to  determine  ;  for,  when  the 
passion  of  vanity  joins  with  the  imitative  propensity,  the  two  have 
a  singular  power  in  producing  obstinately  opposing  opinions, 
especially  when  they  have  an  organ  to  work  on  so  pliant  in  the 
reception  of  impressions  as  the  palate.  The  fashionable  drink  of 
the  Prussians  of  old  was  fermented  mare's  milk  ;  while  the  nobles 
drank  this,  the  common  people  were  content  with  mead.  This, 
at  least,  can  be  said  in  favor  of  the  choice,  that  the  latter  liquor 
must  have  been  easily  got  in  the  country  of  wild  honey,  and 
would  therefore  be  vulgar ;  the  former  could  only  be  procured  by 
the  wealthy,  and  would  therefore  indicate  rank. 

On  the  whole,  as  it  must  be  allowed  that  vanity  has  a  very 
great  influence  in  determining  the  preference  which  is  given  to 
one  sort  of  alcoholic  liquor  over  another,  so  it  is  very  difficult  to 
determine  the  point  where  its  operation  ceases.  This,  perhaps, 
can  only  be  done  in  cases  where  the  degree  in  which  some 
agreeable  flavor  or  relish  is  possessed  is  in  question,  or  where 
some  positively  disagreeable  flavor  or  taste,  or  injurious  quahty, 
is  communicated  in  the  process  of  preparation. 

Brazil  wood,  that  the  merchant,  after  bottling  off  the  wine,  may  impose  on 
his  customers  by  taking  to  pieces  the  cask,  and  exhibiting  the  beautiful  dark 
colored  and  fine  crystalline  crust,  as  an  indubitable  proof  of  the  age  of  the 
wine ;  a  practice  by  no  means  uncommon,  to  flatter  the  vanity  of  those  who 
pride  themselves  in  their  acute  discrimination  of  wines.  See  Accum  on 
Adulterations. 


296  O^  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

It  is  also  to  be  observed,  with  regard  to  these  liquors,  that, 
with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  negro,  whose  physical  consti- 
tution is  so  different  from  that  of  the  white  that  no  conclusion  can 
be  drawn  from  the  one  to  the  other,  the  propensity  to  their  con- 
sumption is  stronger  among  people  living  at  a  distance  from  the 
equator,  than  among  those  who  inhabit  regions  lying  near  it. 
Were  it  necessary  to  assign  reasons  for  a  fact  generally  observed, 
we  might  find  them  in  the  grosser  feeding  of  the  inhabitants  of 
cold  climates,  and  in  their  diminished  susceptibility  to  the  impres- 
sions of  the  sexual  desires. 

I  have  discussed  the  subject  of  these  liquors  at  a  length  which 
I  fear  may  appear  tedious.  Some  reasons  for  having  done  so 
will  show  themselves  afterwards.  There  is  one  that  has  imme- 
diately to  appear. 

A  very  important  question  concerning  their  consumption  arises, 
which,  it  seems  to  me,  has  been  too  hastily  determined,  and  that 
determination  rashly  acted  on,  in  a  manner  that  has  produced 
very  injurious  effects.  As  far  as  we  have  presently  to  consider 
the  doctrine  and  practice,  they  may,  in  a  great  measure,  be  traced 
to  the  followinu;  passage  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations. 

"  Though  individuals  may  sometimes  ruin  their  fortunes  by  an 
excessive  consumption  of  fermented  liquors,  there  seems  to  be  no 
risk  that  a  nation  should  do  so.  Though  in  every  country  there 
are  many  people  who  spend  upon  such  liquors  more  than  they 
can  afford,  there  are  always  many  more  who  spend  less.  It 
deserves  to  be  remarked,  too,  that  if  we  consult  experience,  the 
cheapness  of  wine  seems  to  be  a  cause,  not  of  drunkenness,  but 
of  sobriety.  The  inhabitants  of  the  wine  countries  are,  in  general, 
the  soberest  people  of  Europe  ;  witness  the  Spaniards,  the  Italians, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern  provinces  of  France.  People 
are  seldom  guilty  of  excess  in  what  is  their  daily  fare.  Nobody 
affects  the  character  of  liberality  and  good  fellowship  by  being 
profuse  of  a  liquor  whicli  is  as  cheap  as  small  beer.  On  the 
contrary,  in  the  countries  which,  either  from  excessive  heat  or 
cold,  produce  no  grapes,  and  where  wine  consequently  is  dear 
and  a  rarity,  drunkenness  is  a  common  vice,  as  among  the  north- 
ern nations,  and  all  those  who  live  between  the  tropics,  the 
negroes,  for  example,  on  the  coast  of  Guinea.  When  a  French 
regiment  comes  from  some  of  the  northern  provinces  of  France, 
where  wine  is  somewhat  dear,  to  be  quartered  in  the  southern, 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  297 

where  it  is  very  cheap,  the  soldiers,  I  have  frequently  heard  it 
observed,  are  at  first  debauched  by  the  cheapness  and  novelty  of 
good  wine  ;  but  after  a  few  months'  residence,  the  greater  part 
of  them  become  as  sober  as  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants.  Were 
the  duties  upon  foreign  wines,  and  the  excises  upon  malt,  beer, 
and  ale,  to  be  taken  away  all  at  once,  it  might,  in  the  same  man- 
ner, occasion  in  Great  Britain  a  pretty  general  and  temporary 
drunkenness  among  the  middling  and  inferior  ranks  of  people, 
which  would  probably  be  soon  followed  by  a  permanent  and 
almost  universal  sobriety.  At  present  drunkenness  is  by  no 
means  the  vice  of  people  of  fashion,  or  of  those  who  can  easily 
afford  the  most  expensive  liquors.  A  gentleman  drunk  with  ale 
has  scarce  ever  been  seen  among  us."  * 

The  general  question  that  may  here  be  said  to  be  proposed  is, 
whether,  or  not,  in  any  particular  country,  the  cheapness  or  the 
dearness  of  intoxicating  liquors  will  most  excite  to  their  intemperate 
use? 

The  excessive  cheapness  of  any  of  these  Hquors  renders  it 
incapable  of  affording  any  gratification  to  vanity,  and  an  equal 
cheapness  in  them  all  would  universally  produce  the  same  effect. 
That  passion  would,  therefore,  in  such  a  case  have  to  turn  itself 
to  other  objects,  and  these  liquors  ceasing  to  be  luxuries,  one 
main  cause  of  their  consumption  would  be  done  away  with.  To 
excite  to  their  abuse,  there  would  remain  only  the  pleasure  arising 
from  their  intoxicating  qualities,  joined  to  the  facility  with  which 
it  might  be  indulged.  Whether,  or  not,  the  ease  with  which  this 
propensity  might  be  gratified  would  lead  to  long  enduring  excess, 
or  the  vulgarity  of  the  enjoyment  to  speedy  and  general  temper- 
ance, would  probably  depend  on  various  circumstances.  —  On  the 
climate,  whether  near  the  equator,  or  at  a  distance  from  it.  —  On 
the  sort  of  liquor,  whether  purely  alcoholic  or  mixed  with  much 
of  foreign  matter.  —  On  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of 
accumulation,  for  that  desire,  when  strong,  leads  to  a  restricted 
consumption  of  things  of  which  the  immediate  benefit  is  problem- 
atical, and  the  dangers  to  futurity,  from  excess  in  them,  very 
great.  If,  then,  the  principle  is  naturally  weak,  or  at  the  moment 
its  action  be  clogged  by  the  stock  of  instruments  in  the  society 
being  wrought  fully  up  to  the  orders  correspondent  to  it,  or  having 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  IV.  c.  III. 

38 


298  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

passed  these,  then  there  will  be  a  great  probability  of  injurious 
and  long  continued  national  excesses. 

Unless,  then,  we  have  the  means  of  knowing  perfectly  the 
condition  in  which  all  these  circumstances,  and  perhaps  some 
others,  exist  in  any  society,  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain,  with  any 
precision,  what  may  be  the  effect  of  reducing  very  greatly  the 
price  of  alcoholic  liquors.  The  national  drunkenness  that  Adam 
Smith  speaks  of  may  be  short  or  long,  or,  for  ought  that  we  can 
say,  perpetual.  Over  the  greater  part  of  the  United  States  of 
America  whiskey  has  long  sold  at  about  a  shilling  sterling  per 
gallon,  so  that  one  day's  wages  of  a  common  laborer  will  pur- 
chase a  dozen  bottles  of  that  spirit.  It  is  therefore  put  out  of 
the  class  of  luxuries  as  completely  as  any  intoxicating  liquor  can 
well  be.  The  consumption  of  it  has,  notwithstanding,  been  very 
great,  and  in  few  countries  have  instances  of  injurious  excess  been 
more  frequent.  It  is  true  that  the  evil,  now  exposed  to  view 
stripped  of  every  disguise,  is  seen  in  all  its  hideousness,  and  is  in 
a  fair  way  of  being  corrected.  After  having  endured  for  more 
than  one  generation,  what  Adam  Smith  terms  the  period  of 
general  drunkenness,  is  probably  passing  away.  If  the  cure  be 
thus  effected,  it  may  fairly  be  reckoned  radical.  Is  it  in  all  cases 
advisable  to  go  through  a  similar  course,  even  with  the  probability 
of  a  similar  result?  —  to  induce  a  season  of  national  drunkenness, 
even  with  the  prospect  of  the  public  feeling  being  effectually 
roused  to  put  down  the  vice  for  ever  ?  To  me  it  seems,  that 
the  remedy  is  so  violent,  that  in  many  cases  there  might  be  a 
risk  of  the  patient's  sinking  under  its  operation.  A  general 
drunkenness  among  the  middle  and  inferior  classes,  however 
temporary,  is  a  thing  surely  not  to  be  lightly  discussed  in  any 
speculations  that  lead  to  practice.  Compared  with  it,  the  tem- 
porary subjugation  of  a  country  by  a  foreign  enemy  would,  in  its 
immediate  effects,  be  a  small  practical  evil.  If  an  experiment  fit 
to  be  tried,  it  should  certainly  only  be  so  under  the  most  favor- 
able circumstances ;  to  peril  it  when  the  vital  powers  are  in  an 
enfeebled  condition,  would  be  the  height  of  rashness. 

The  analogy  which  Adam  Smith,  in  the  passage  quoted,  draws 
between  the  French  soldier  transported  from  a  part  of  France 
where  wine  is  scarce,  to  another  where  it  abounds,  and  a  nation 
suddenly  overflowed  with  an  abundance  of  these  liquors,  will 
not  hold;  for,  the  imitative  propensity,  in  the  one  case,  tends  as 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  299 

powerfully  to  check,  as  in  the  other  it  operates  to  excite  to  the 
abuse  in  question.  If  a  man  be  brought  among  sober  people,  he 
has  every  chance  to  remain,  or  to  become  sober ;  if,  on  the  con- 
trary, he  get  among  drunkards,  it  requires  all  his  resolution  to 
avoid  becoming  one.  A  nation  having  a  taste  for  these  pleasures, 
and  suddenly  obtaining  the  means  of  indulging  in  them,  may  be 
compared  to  a  company  inclined  to  be  jovial  assembled  round  an 
abundant  table,  where  each  excites  the  other  to  excess ;  a  band 
of  soldiers  living  and  mixing  with  the  inhabitants  of  a  country 
where,  even  though  cheap,  these  liquors  are  temperately  con- 
sumed, to  an  individual  partaking  of  his  solitary  bottle  in  the 
midst  of  those  who  despise  the  pleasure,  and  view  him  with 
contempt  for  indulging  in  it. 

It  is,  however,  particularly  to  be  remarked,  that  the  author 
refers  to  fermented,  not  to  purely  alcoholic  liquors,  and  the 
former  are  certainly  much  less  apt  to  lead  to  excess,  than  the 
latter.  I  apprehend,  however,  that  his  reasonings  in  the  preced- 
ing, and  one  or  two  other  passages,  have  been  generally  received 
as  applicable  to  both. 

To  return  to  the  subject  of  narcotics  in  general,  all  excess  in 
their  consumption,  whether  it  be  regarded  as  an  application  of 
labor  to  an  useless  purpose,  or  to  one  partially  hurtful ;  whether 
it  proceed  from  vanity  or  pernicious  habits,  may  not  improperly 
be  termed  dissipation,  as  the  articles  so  consumed  may  be  termed 
luxuries.  It  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  pretend  to  deter- 
mine what  this  loss  may  in  any  case  amount  to  ;  it  is  sufficient  to 
mark  its  existence,  as  a  quantity  to  be  taken  into  account  in  a 
consideration  of  the  causes,  influencing  the  increase  or  decrease 
of  the  national  stock. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


OF  EXCHANGES  BETWEEN  DIFFERENT  COMMUNITtES. 

There  are  then,  it  would  appear  from  the  preceding  chapters, 
two  great  classes  into  which  commodities  may  be  divided,  luxu- 
ries, and  articles  of  consumption  which  are  not  luxuries,  but, 
were  the  term  permitted,  might  be  named  utilities.  When  the 
events  in  which  instruments  issue  are  of  the  latter  class,  then 
instruments  may  properly  be  said  to  be  exhausted,  when  of  the 
former  they  are  on  the  contrary  dissipated. 

Having  ascertained  the  circumstances  limiting  these  two  divi- 
sions, we  are  able  to  enter  on  the  investigation  of  some  phenom- 
ena, relating  to  the  exchange  of  commodities,  which  we  have 
not  hitherto  particularly  noticed.  As  yet  we  have  only  attended 
to  the  laws  finally  regulating  the  exchange  of  commodities  be- 
tween individuals  of  the  same  society,  but  it  is  necessary  that  we 
should  also  ascertain  the  general  conditions  existing  in  those  ex- 
changes which  take  place  between  different  societies. 

In  our  view  of  the  subject,  every  society  considered  apart,  is 
a  system  within  which  all  circumstances  are  common  and  similar, 
and  all  societies  compared  together,  are  systems  in  which  all  or 
many  circumstances  are  proper  to  each  and  dissimilar  to  others. 
The  wages  of  labor,  orders  of  instruments,  and  profits  of  stock, 
in  one  society,  for  instance,  are  the  same,  in  different,  are  or  may 
be  different.  When  two  persons  in  the  same  society  exchange 
commodities,  we  have  seen  that  the  exchanges  they  make  are 
for  equal  quantities  of  labor,  reckoned  according  to  the  time  when 
applied,  and  the  actual  orders  of  instruments.  This  happens 
because  one  man's  personal  labor,  or  the  command  of  other  men's 
labor  which  he  may  possess,  is  equal  to  another  man's  personal 
labor,  or  the  command  of  other  men's  labor  which  he  may  pos- 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  301 

sess.  In  separate  societies,  however,  this  law  obviously  no 
longer  holds.  An  individual  in  one  society,  exchanging  with 
another,  in  another  society,  cannot  pretend  to  regulate  the  amount 
he  is  to  receive  in  return  by  the  power  which  he  possesses,  if  he 
conceives  too  much  demanded,  of  turning  his  own  funds  to  the 
formation  of  that  which  he  desires,  for  he  has  no  such  power. 
To  form  the  commodities  he  in  this  case  desires,  it  is  necessary 
he  should  become  a  member  of  the  society  in  which  they  are 
formed,  and  give  up  the  place  he  holds  in  the  community  of 
which  he  now  makes  one.     If  the  manufacturers  of  cloth  in  Eno-- 

O 

land  find  that  the  farmers  do  not  give  them,  in  the  form  of  wheat, 
the  same  quantity  of  labor  that  they  in  exchange  give  them  in 
cloth,  they  will  turn  their  capital  to  agriculture,  and  so  reduce 
the  price  demanded;  but  should  they  find  that  the  American 
farmer  puts  less  labor  to  the  formation  of  the  wheat  he  exchanges 
for  their  cloth,  than  that  cloth  costs  them,  they  have  not  the  same 
means  of  lowering  his  price. 

As  the  exchanges,  therefore,  that  take  place  between  the 
members  of  different  societies,  cannot  be  regulated  by  the  amount 
of  labor  embodied  in  the  commodities  fabricated  by  each,  there 
would  seem  to  remain,  as  the  foundation  of  the  principles  of  such 
exchanges,  only  the  qualities  of  the  articles  exchanged.  If  the 
manufacturers  in  England,  find  that  including  the  expense  of 
transport,  they  can  have  wheat  as  cheap  from  the  American  farm- 
ers as  from  the  British,  they  will  be  inclined  to  exchange,  and 
if  the  American  farmers  find  that,  including  also  the  expense  of 
transport,  they  can  have  English  cloth  as  cheap  as  American, 
they  will  be  inclined  to  exchange.  It  is  evident  too,  that  the 
British  manufacturer  will  be  more  inclined  to  exchange,  if  the 
American  wheat  come  cheaper  than  the  British,  and  the  American 
farmer,  if  the  British  cloth  come  cheaper  than  the  American. 

The  commodities  to  be  exchanged  between  any  two  societies, 
may  either  minister  to  use,  or  to  luxury,  or  partly  to  both.  The 
subject  will  present  itself  in  the  most  simple  form,  by  discussing 
separately  the  divisions  of  it  thus  indicated. 

First,  then,  we  have  to  consider  the  principles  and  effects  of 
the  exchanges  of  commodities  which  are  in  no  degree  luxuries. 

If  the  members  of  one  society,  having  before  had  no  inter- 
course with  some  other  society,  become  aware  that  in  it  there  is 
a  commodity  of  this  sort,  of  which  they  would  desire  to  have  a 


302  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

supply,  the  question  to  be  determined  is,  will  they  procure  that 
supply,  and  if  so,  what  will  be  the  effect  thence  resulting.  As 
they  have  hitherto  done  without  the  commodity,  they  must 
already  possess  some  substitute  for  it.  They  will  then  only  seek 
to  procure  it,  if  they  can  procure  it  for  less  labor  than  the  substi- 
tute they  already  possess  ;  and  if  they  can  procure  it  for  less  labor 
they  will  naturally  be  excited  to  do  so.  Were  coal,  for  instance, 
the  commodity  which  the  members  of  one  society  A  possess,  and  of 
which  the  members  of  another  society  B  wish  to  procure  a  sup- 
ply, there  must  in  B  be  some  means  in  existence,  of  more  or  less 
fully  and  easily  satisfying  the  wants  which  that  mineral  can  sup- 
ply. It  may  be,  for  instance,  that  wood  is  the  fuel  there  con- 
sumed. Let  us  suppose  that  three  cords  of  the  wood  commonly 
burnt,  are  equivalent,  in  the  heat  given  out  by  them,  to  one 
chaldron  of  coals ;  if,  then,  in  the  society  B  there  be  any  com- 
modity there  equivalent  to  less  than  three  cords  wood,  and  which, 
transported  to  A,  will  in  A  be  equivalent,  considered  as  an 
utility,  to  one  chaldron  coals,  the  exchange  will  be  possible,  for 
this  difference  may  pay,  or  may  do  more  than  pay,  for  the 
expense  of  transport.  If,  for  example,  in  the  society  A  timber  for 
architectural  purposes  be  more  scarce  than  in  B,  it  might  happen 
that  the  wood  used  for  fuel  in  B,  when  transported  to  A  in  logs, 
would  be  in  estimation  there.  It  might  be  that  in  A,  owing  to  the 
general  application  of  the  soil  to  agricultural  purposes,  and  the 
scarcity  of  forest,  a  quantity  of  timber,  fit  for  the  use  of  the 
builder,  such  as  might  be  got  out  of  a  cord  of  the  fire  wood  used 
in  B,  might  exchange  for  one  chaldron  coals.  Were,  then,  an 
individual  of  the  society  B,  to  transport  to  A  a  quantity  of  square 
timber  equivalent  in  B  to  three  hundred  cords  of  wood,  he  might 
exchange  it  there  for  three  hundred  chaldrons  coals,  and  might 
so  return  to  B  with  a  commodity  there  equivalent  to  nine  hun- 
dred cords  of  fire  wood,  thrice  the  amount  which  he  had  trans- 
ported from  thence.  Suppose  that  the  expense  of  the  transport 
of  both  commodities  is  equal  to  three  hundred  cords,  then  he  will 
just  have  doubled  the  stock  embarked  in  the  enterprise.  Were 
this  the  state  of  things,  timber,  instead  of  being  consumed  in  fuel 
in  B,  would  be  transferred  to  A,  and  would  return,  in  the  form 
of  coals,  an  equivalent,  after  paying  the  charges  of  transport,  to 
double  the  labor  expended  in  its  formation.  But  in  this  state  of 
things  the  whole  advantage  would  fall  to  the  society  B  ;   fuel 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  303 

would  be  more  easily  obtained  there,  but  timber  would  not  be 
more  easily  obtained  in  A.  As,  however,  it  would  be  equally  in 
the  power  of  the  members  of  the  latter  society  to  send  their  coals 
to  B,  and  there  exchange  them  for  wood,  were  other  circum- 
stances wanting,  this  alone  would  have  the  effect  of  equalizing  the 
advantages,  and  in  most  cases,  therefore,  they  would  come  to  be 
nearly  equally  divided  between  two  societies  so  situated.  The 
first  effects,  therefore,  would  be  that  the  same  quantity  of  fuel 
which  before  cost  in  B  three  days'  labor  might  now  be  obtained 
for  two;  and  that  the  quantity  of  building  timber  that  in  A  cost 
three  days'  labor,  might  also  be  obtained  for  two.  The  revolu- 
tion effected  might  nearly  compare  to  an  improvement  in  both 
societies,  by  which,  in  the  one,  two  cords  fire  wood  might  give 
equal  heat  to  what  three  had  done,  and,  in  the  other,  two  logs  of 
timber  might  serve  the  same  purposes  as  three.  Like  other 
improvements,  they  would  not  be  confined  in  their  opera- 
tion to  the  particular  branches  of  industry  in  which  they  had 
place,  but  would  be  diffused  equally  over  both  societies,  carrying 
the  whole  instruments  in  each  towards  the  more  quickly  return- 
ing orders.  Profits  would  rise  equally  in  all  employments.  The 
absolute  capital  of  both  communities  would  be  increased  in  pro- 
portion to  the  augmented  provision  made  for  their  future  wants. 
This  provision,  indeed,  would  be  so  far  uncertain,  that  it  might 
be  rendered  inaccessible  by  war,  or  other  causes  interrupting  the 
commerce  between  the  two  countries  ;  and  the  whole  industry 
and  instruments  engaged  in  it  might,  therefore,  be  compared  to 
a  stock  engaged  in  some  hazardous  branch  of  industry,  and  run- 
ning a  chance  of  being  wholly  or  partially  lost,  by  the  action  of 
uncontrollably  destructive  causes.  Abstracting,  however,  the 
chances  to  which  they  might  thus  be  exposed,  they  would  em- 
body as  real  a  provision  for  futurity  as  any  other  part  of  the  stock 
of  either  society. 

In  all  exchanges  taking  place  between  different  societies,  in 
commodities  which  are  not  luxuries,  similar  principles  regulatino- 
them,  and  similar  efiects  flowing  from  them,  may  be  traced. 
For,  if  they  derive  their  value  not  from  the  gratification  they 
afford  to  vanity,  but>  from  their  capacity  to  supply  real  wants, 
they  may  be  compared  with  other  instruments  belonging  to  the 
society,  satisfying  more  or  less  perfectly  the  same  class  of  wants. 
And  when,  through  the  exchange  of  other  commodities  for  them, 


304  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

they  can  be  obtained  for  less  labor  than  such  instruments,  will 
naturally  come  to  be  so  obtained,  and  completely  or  partially 
fill  the  place  of  them.  As  coals  will  compare  with  cord  wood, 
so  Indian  rubber  will  compare  with  leather.  New  Zealand  weed 
with  hempen  cordage,  slates  with  thatch,  copper  with  iron.  In 
these  cases,  and  in  others  where  probably  mere  utility  is  sought 
for,  there  are  means  of  comparing  one  thing  with  another,  and 
the  substituton  of  the  one  for  the  other,  when  in  proportion  to  the 
labor  necessary  to  obtain  it,  it  will  more  effectually  supply  future 
wants,  is  always  a  real  improvement. 

It  will  often  happen  that  the  process  will  engage  in  it  more 
than  two  societies.  Thus,  the  society  B  might  exchange  wood 
with  C,  C  might  exchange  iron  with  A,  and  A,  coal  with  B. 
Similar  principles  would  still,  however,  guide  its  progress,  and 
similar  effects  result  from  it.  While  the  exchanges  were  con- 
fined to  commodities  in  no  degree  luxuries,  an  increased  pro- 
vision for  future  wants  would  result  from  them,  and  a  general 
augmentation  of  the  absolute  capital  of  the  societies  receiving 
these  new  supplies,  and  quickening  in  them  of  the  accumulative 
principle  would  be  experienced.  They  would  in  them  all  have 
the  general  effect  of  improvements,  and  would  operate,  in  the  case 
supposed  last,  in  the  same  manner  as  would  in  B  some  discovery 
facilitating  the  transport  of  wood,  in  C  some  discovery  facilitating 
the  smelting  iron,  in  A  some  discovery  facilitating  the  mining  for 
coal.  The  fewer  obstructions,  therefore,  that  stood  in  the  way 
of  such  transfers,  the  farther,  in  these  cases,  would  the  stock  of 
instruments  in  those  societies  be  carried  towards  the  order  A,  as 
any  obstruction  that  might  occur  would,  on  the  contrary,  have 
the  effect  of  checking  the  progress  towards  the  more  quickly 
returning  orders,  and  keeping  them  nearer  the  order  Z. 

The  benefits  to  all  parties,  arising  from  such  an  interchange  of 
commodities  as  we  have  described,  would  be  liable  to  be  inter- 
rupted by  war  or  by  legislative  enactments.  These  disturbing 
causes  we  have  afterwards  shortly  to  advert  to,  but  there  is  one 
arising  from  the  progress  of  invention  that  may  be  properly 
noticed  here. 

As  there  are  no  limits  to  the  inventive  faculty,  so  no  commu- 
nity can  assure  itself  that  any  commodity  which  it  now  produces 
and  exports  to  some  other  community,  may  not  come  to  be  pro- 
duced in  that  community,  and  so  be  no  longer  exported  there. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  305 

It  may  be,  for  instance,  that,  to  return  to  the  supposed  case  we 
were  just  considering,  in  the  society  B,  strata  of  coal  are  discov- 
ered so  near  the  surface  as  to  be  as  easily  wrought  as  in  A,  and 
that  the  spirit  of  enterprise  may  there  be  sufficiently  active, 
successfully  to  engage  in  the  occupation  of  mining  for  them.  In 
that  case  coals  would  there  be  procured  for  about  five-sixths  of 
the  labor  they  had  cost  when  brought  from  A.  They  would  fall 
in  relative  value,  the  absolute  capital  of  the  society  would  be 
augmented,  and  profits  proportionally  increased.  But  wliile  in  the 
society  B,  the  effects  of  the  progress  of  invention  would  be  thus 
beneficial,  in  A  they  might  operate  prejudicially.  No  exportation 
of  coals  could  now  take  place  from  A  to  B,  for  being  necessarily 
very  nearly  at  the  same  price  in  the  one  as  in  the  other  society, 
there  would  be  nothing  to  pay  the  expense  of  transport.  Iron 
then  could  no  longer  be  paid  for  in  coals,  unless  that  commodity 
sold  at  a  lower  rate.  To  pay  for  it,  coals  must  be  sold  at  B  for 
less,  or  some  other  commodity  must  be  resorted  to.  In  the 
former  case  the  society  A  would  sustain  a  sensible  loss,  compara- 
ble to  an  increased  difficulty  in  working  its  mines,  and  propor- 
tional diminution  of  the  amount  of  its  absolute  capital.  In  the 
latter,  though  the  loss  might  be  less,  it  would  nevertheless  be 
real ;  for,  by  the  supposition,  coal  was  the  only  commodity  ex- 
ported, and  it  could  only  be  so  because  it  was  the  one  bringing 
the  best  return.  The  necessity  therefore  of  turning  to  some 
other  article,  implies  the  obtaining  of  a  less  return,  and  a  conse- 
quent diminution  of  the  absolute  capital  of  the  society,  and, 
unless  counterbalanced  by  the  progress  of  improvement,  or  an 
increase  in  the  strength  of  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation, 
a  withdrawal  from  the  reach  of  the  accumulative  principle  of  its 
members,  of  some  portion  of  materials  before  within  its  grasp. 

2d.  When  again,  luxuries,  the  produce  of  foreign  art,  present 
themselves  to  a  society,  whence  they  had  before  been  strangers, 
their  value  cannot  be  ascertained  by  comparing  them  with  com- 
modities of  domestic  formation,  for  it  is  not  the  relative  useful 
qualities  of  commodities,  that  fit  them  more  or  less  perfectly  to 
gratify  the  passion  of  vanity,  but  solely  the  difficulty  of  procuring 
them.  Were  a  quantity  of  the  article  used  for  hemp  in  New 
Zealand,  shown  to  a  person  in  England,  who  had  never  before 
seen  it,  and  was  totally  ignorant  of  its  price,  on  being  made 
accurately  acquainted  with  its  strength,  durability,  weight,  ab- 

39 


306  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK 

sorbing  qualities,  and  pliancy,  as  compared  with  real  hemp,  he 
would  be   able,  knowing  the  value  of  the  latter,  to  state  pretty 
nearly  what  it  actually  sold  for.     But  were  a  person,  in  the  same 
country,  perfectly  ignorant  of  the   value  of  pearls,   and  never 
having  seen  any,  to  be  shown  a  string  of  them,  and  made  ac- 
quainted with  their  quahties  in  relation  to  artificial   pearls,  and 
glass  beads  of  various  sorts,  though  knowing  well  the  price  of  the 
latter,  he  would  certainly  be  unable  to  assign  the  sum  to  be  got 
for  the  former.     Were  a  variety  of  alcoholic  liquors  to  be  pre- 
sented to  an  individual  quite  ignorant  of  them,  and  of  their  value, 
and  were  he,  changing  from  one  to  another,  to  partake,  occasion- 
ally, freely  of  them  all  for  months  and  years  together,  were  all 
other  circumstances  concerning  them  but  their  sensible  qualities 
and  eftects  concealed  from  him,  he  would  certainly  be  unable  to 
fix  their  relative  value.     Were,  in  like  manner,  specimens  of  all 
the  different  fabrics  used  for  female  attire  for  the  last  ten  years, 
with   their  relative  durabilities  ticketed  on  them,  presented  to  a 
person  of  good  taste,  but  perfectly  ignorant  of  these  matters,  he 
would  certainly  also  be   quite  incapable  of  coming  near  their 
actual   relative  cost.     The    same  observation   will  apply  to  all 
other  luxuries.     As  they  compare  with  each  o;her,  not  by  their 
inherent  qualities,  but  by  the  difficulty  in  procuring  them,  unless 
the  comparative  labor  necessary  to  procure  them  be  known,  there 
is  no  means  of  fixing  their  relative  price.     It  affords  a  rule  too 
by  which  we  may  test  what  are,  or  are  not,  luxuries.     Thus,  I 
apprehend,  that  were  a  silver  spoon,  or  sauce-pan,  or  vase,  shown, 
for  the  first  time,  to  any  person  in  the  middle  ranks  of  life,  though 
ignorant  of  its  value,  yet  seeing  its  beauty  and  susceptibility  of 
receiving  the   most  delicate  impressions  of  the  workman,   and 
being  informed  of  its  durability,  safety,  and  the  saving  of  labor 
attending  its  use,  on  a  fair  estimate  of  these  qualities,  he  would 
place  it  not  very  far   below  its  present  relative  value  to  copper. 
He  might,  it  seems  to  me,  considering  merely  the  qualities  inhe- 
rent in  it,  be  willing  to  give  for  it  twenty  or  thirty  times  what  he 
would  for  the  same  article  wrought  in  copper.     He  would,  how- 
ever, I  should  apprehend,  be  far  from  estimating  similar  articles 
fabricated  of  gold,  at  sixteen  times  the  price  of  the  same  in  silver. 
Supposing  him  possessed  of  real  taste  and  accurate  judgment,  the 
difference  between  his  estimate,  and  the  actual  comparative  value 
of  these  metals  woidd  mark  how   far  they  were,  or  were  not 
luxuries,  to  people  of  his  fortune. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  307 

The  only  rule,  then,  which  people  desirous  of  possessing  luxu- 
ries can  adopt  for  measuring  what  they  will  give  for  them,  is  the 
degree  of  difficulty  of  procuring  them,  the  amount  of  labor  which 
must  be  given  for  them.  When  they  are  satisfied  that  any  par- 
ticular article  of  the  sort  they  are  in  quest  of  is  used  by  other 
people,  and  that  it  cannot  be  had  for  less,  they  will  pay  the  price 
demanded.  They  do  not  seek  for  the  grounds  of  their  deter- 
mination in  the  utility  of  the  commodity,  but  in  its  scarcity.  Let 
a  farmer  go  to  lay  out  three  pounds  on  lace  for  his  wife,  if  he  is 
assured  that  the  dealer  in  that  article  to  whom  he  applies  will 
not  charge  him  more  than  others,  and  that  Mr.  A's  wife  and  Mr. 
B's  wife  wear  the  same  sort,  he  will  care  little  whether  he  gets 
for  his  money  six  or  twelve  yards,  or  Avhether  it  be  two  or  three 
inches  broad.  All  that  he  is  concerned  about  is  that  he  should 
get  as  much  as  other  people.  Let  the  same  farmer  think  of 
purchasing  some  new  manure  for  his  land,  he  will  conceive 
it  necessary  to  ascertain  both  the  effects  of  the  article  upon  the 
soil  he  farms,  in  comparison  with  other  manures,  and  its  cost  also 
compared  with  them.  If  he  find  that,  compared  with  them,  the 
cost  is  no  greater,  he  will  be  inclined  to  purchase ;  if  he  find  it 
less,  he  will  conceive  it  so  much  gain ;  while  it  lasts  it  will  be 
equivalent  to  a  marie  pit  discovered  on  his  own  farm. 

If  a  dealer  imports  a  commodity  having  a  shade  of  distinction 
scarcely  perceptible  considered  in  relation  to  the  degree  of  enjoy- 
ment it  gives,  but  sufficiently  marked  to  distinguish  it  from  other 
commodities  of  the  sort,  and  if  half  a  dozen  people  of  rank  adopt 
the  use  of  the  article  as  a  sign  of  their  superiority,  it  has  all 
chances  to  enter  into  the  consumption  of  every  individual  in  the 
community  who  can  afford  it.  In  such  cases,  the  price  of  the 
commodity  depends  altogether  on  the  venders  of  it.  But,  as 
each  of  these  wishes  to  sell  as  much  as  possible,  and  as  he 
can  do  so  most  readily  by  underselling  his  neighbors,  the  price 
gradually  falls  under  a  free  competition,  until  the  dealers  in  it 
receive  only  the  profits  that  the  effective  desire  of  accumulation, 
and  the  progress  of  improvement  in  the  society  measures  out  to 
them.  At  the  end  of  the  process  the  whole  difference  observa- 
ble, if  the  article  be  completely  a  luxury,  is  a  change  of  fashion. 
The  principle  of  accumulation  has  not  been  led  to  grasp  a  greater 
compass  of  materials,  nor  has  any  addition  been  made  to  the 
general  stock  of  the  society,  a  new  set  of  marks  of  distinction  has 


308  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

merely  been  introduced.  The  property  in  circulation  is  not  aug- 
mented, but  the  coin  has  received  a  new  impression,  or  got 
increased  weight.  It  may,  however,  happen,  and  very  often 
does  happen,  that,  during  the  process,  a  sort  of  factitious  improve- 
ment is  introduced,  which,  while  it  lasts,  is  sometimes  nearly 
equivalent  to  a  real  improvement. 

Suppose  a  merchant,  seeking  to  strike  out  a  new  branch  of 
trade,  exports  to  some  distant  country,  and  sells  there  to  advan- 
tage, an  article  of  luxury  the  produce  of  the  community  to  which 
he  belongs,  and  in  return  receives  for  it  a  commodity,  a  simple 
utility  in  demand  among  his  countrymen.  Let  the  former  com- 
modity be  lace,  and  the  country  to  which  it  is  exported  E,  and 
the  latter  commodity  barilla,  and  country  to  which  it  is  imported 

D.  In  process  of  time  the  trade  increases,  until  a  large  quantity 
of  lace  is  exported,  and  a  large  quantity  of  barilla  imported. 
Suppose,  farther,  that  the  steady  demand  for  the  lace,  joined  to 
other  circumstances,  animates  ingenuity  to  facilitate  the  process 
of  manufacture,  and  that  the  article  is  before  long  produced  at 
half  the  outlay  it  cost  when  first  exported.  In  the  ordinary 
course  of  matters,  the  diminished  cost  of  production  should  be 
followed  by  a  correspondent  reduction  in  the  price  it  is  sold  at  in 

E.  Two  circumstances,  however,  may  prevent  this.  The 
intercourse  between  D  and  E  may  be  very  difficult,  and  clogged 
by  many  obstructions,  and  the  community  E  may  be  very 
numerous,  and  may  easily  absorb  a  large  amount  of  the  article. 
Both  circumstances  would  help  to  diminish  the  effects  of  compe- 
tition ;  the  former  by  lessening  the  number  of  competitors,  the 
latter  by  preventing  the  actual  competition  induced  from  operat- 
ing fully.  It  might  in  consequence  happen,  that  lace,  though 
produced  with  double  facility,  sold  in  E  at  nearly  the  same  price 
as  at  first.  If  we  suppose  that  commodity  to  be  a  pure  luxury, 
this  would  be  no  disadvantage  to  E,  for  the  quantity  used  would 
serve  exactly  the  same  purpose  as  if  its  amount  had  been  doubled  ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  so  far  an  advantage  to  D, 
that  it  would  place  somewhere  there  the  command  of  all  the 
labor  which  in  E  was  actually  paid  for.  Among  the  members 
of  the  society  D  double  the  quantity  of  barilla  would  be  somehow 
or  another  shared,  that  the  labor  expended  in  procuring  it  was 
entitled  to.  The  advantage  would  not  certainly,  of  necessity, 
have  that  healthy  and  vivifying  effect  which  real  improvement 


OF  TPIE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  309 

occasions,  for  it  might  not  spread  through  the  whole  community, 
but  might  be  dissipated  in  luxuries  by  the  merchants,  manufac- 
turers, and  artisans  engaged  in  acquiring  it.  If,  however,  in  other 
branches  of  trade  and  of  manufactures  for  exportation,  similar 
facilities  w^ere  introduced,  and  similar  large  returns  obtained,  and 
if  in  all  the  departments  of  domestic  industry  great  real  improve- 
ments take  place,  the  advance  of  the  whole  society  would  ,be 
uniform,  and  not  much  unlike  what  would  flow  from  an  univer- 
sally real  improvement. 

Should  two  societies  in  the  same  way  trade  together  in  mere 
luxuries,  a  sort  of  factitious  improvement  might  be  created  by  the 
effects  of  a  restricted  competition.  The  merchants  who  engaged 
in  the  trade  would,  in  the  first  place,  acquire  all  the  labor  saved 
by  the  overcharge  of  the  commodities  they  bought  and  sold,  and 
the  benefits  might  be  diffused  more  or  less  generally  on  both 
societies. 

When,  by  the  removal  of  restrictions,  and  the  increased 
capacity  of  industry  to  fabricate  the  goods  in  request  as  luxuries, 
a  free  competition  is  induced,  all  these  factitious  advantages  dis- 
appear. Each  adventurer  endeavoring  to  beat  down  his  opponent 
in  the  foreign  market,  the  productions  of  the  industry  of  remote 
countries  come  to  be  offered  there,  for  the  lowest  amount,  at  which 
the  strength  of  the  principle  of  accumulation  can  permanently 
continue  to  produce  them.  They  may  even  pass  much  below 
this ;  for  vanity,  capricious  in  its  tastes,  soon  begins  to  despise 
altogether  what  may  be  every  one's  purchase,  and  leaves  what  it 
once  highly  prized  as  now  vulgar  and  unworthy  regard.  In  the 
supposed  case  of  the  exportation  of  lace,  that  commodity  might 
have  triple  the  labor  expended  on  it,  and  its  quantity  might  be 
increased  sixfold,  and  yet  might  bring  in  a  smaller  return  than  it 
did  before.  The  ample  revenues  which  the  merchant,  the  man- 
ufacturer, the  artisan,  derived  from  the  fabrication  of  such  articles 
become  reduced  to  the  lowest  amount  that  may  suffice  to  move 
their  respective  productive  faculties.  Other  branches  of  manu- 
facture share  the  same  fate  ;  the  whole  machinery  of  industry  is 
clogged  and  encumbered  by  the  heavy  additional  burden  thrown 
on  it,  and  distress  and  discouragement  pervade  the  community. 

3d.  There  are,  however,  very  few,  if  any,  commodities  which 
are  purely  luxuries.  Although  vanity  is  in  part  the  cause  of  the 
estimation  in  which  very  many  are  held,  and  though  it  gives  to 


310  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

some  perhaps  nearly  their  whole  value,  nevertheless  it  seldom 
exists  in  any  alone.  It  almost  always  applies  itself,  as  I  have 
already  observed,  to  something  ministering  in  some  degree  to 
real  wants  or  pleasures.  There  is  beneath  almost  every  luxury 
a  substratum  of  utility  of  greater  or  less  depth. 

The  effects,  consequently  resulting  from  the  exchange  between 
different  communities,  of  very  many  commodities,  are  compounded 
of  the  results  produced  by  the  traffic  in  articles  of  utility  and  of 
luxury.  As  it  is  impossible  in  almost  any  case  to  determine 
accurately  how  far  any  article  is  or  is  not  a  luxury,  there  is  pro- 
portional difficulty  in  ascertaining  what  are  the  .  precise  effects 
resulting  from  the  exchanges  actually  carried  on  between  any 
two  communities.  There  is  one  principle  which  may,  in  some 
instances,  help  to  guide  us.  Almost  all  articles  of  which  the 
consumption  is  conspicuous,  the  precise  effects  resulting  from 
their  physical  qualities  difficult  to  ascertain,  and  which,  from  their 
novelty,  have  not  yet  been  subjected  to  the  effects  of  a  free  com- 
petition, may  be  presumed  to  be  in  a  great  degree  luxuries.  In 
them,  we  may  be  sure,  vanity  has  found  a  material  on  which  she 
could  easily  fix,  and  from  which  there  has  been  no  opportunity 
of  dislodo;ino;  her. 

The  relative  effects  of  restriction,  and  free  competition,  when 
opportunities  have  presented  themselves  of  observing  them,  enable 
us,  however,  with  some  certainty  to  determine,  how  far  the  com- 
modities subjected  to  their  operation  have  been  luxuries,  or  real 
utilities.  In  regard  to  articles  supplying  real  wants,  the  more  easy 
and  unconstrained  the  communication,  the  more  extended  the 
production,  the  freer  the  competition,  the  farther,  as  we  have 
seen,  are  the  stocks  of  instruments  of  the  societies  exchanging 
carried  towards  the  more  quickly  returning  orders.  Every  step 
in  advance  in  the  course  is  equivalent,  subject  only  to  the  risk  of 
the  communication  being  interrupted,  to  a  real  improvement. 
With  regard  to  such  commodities,  any  general  evil  resulting  from 
overproduction  is  quite  impossible.  A  partial  glut,  as  it  is  termed, 
may  indeed  occur ;  but  this,  although  a  slight  partial  evil,  must 
be  a  general  good.  The  commodity  produced  satisfying  real 
wants,  an  increased  supply  of  it  must  diffuse  a  general  and  sensi- 
ble plenty.  In  regard  to  such  commodities  the  reasoning  of 
Mr.  Say  is,  I  conceive,  conclusive.  A  general  overproduction  is 
an  absurdity,  for  it  implies  the  means  of  a  general  consumption, 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  311 

and  would,  in  fact,  be  a  general  improvement.  It  would  be  as 
if  the  materials  which  nature  has  given  to  man  were  to  receive 
powers  in  addition  to  those  which  they  already  possess,  for  satis- 
fying his  wants ;  as  if  the  grain  of  the  fields,  the  grass  of  the 
meadow,  the  trees  of  the  forest,  advanced  more  rapidly  to  per- 
fection, as  if  the  ore  yielded  up  its  metallic  treasures  with  greater 
facility,  the  sun  diffused  a  more  genial  warmth,  and  the  earth 
rejoiced  in  universal  and  exuberant  fertility.  The  increased  pro- 
vision for  wants  thus  presented,  must  either  be  consumed,  or 
applied  to  the  formation  of  instruments  to  supply  the  demands  of 
a  more  distant  futurity. 

But  though  these  are  the  effects  of  increased  facilities  in  the  ex- 
change of  commodities  in  as  far  as  they  are  real  utilities,  it  is  exactly 
the  reverse  in  so  far  as  they  are  luxuries.  Restriction  in  the 
exchange  of  luxuries  may  be,  and  often  is  felt,  as  no  diminution 
of  enjoyment,  but  a  great  saving  of  labor,  and  the  removal  of  that 
restriction  may  almost  immediately  oblige  all,  or  many  of  the 
communities  exchanging,  to  expend  the  whole  amount  of  labor 
they  had  before  saved.  If  then  we  find  that  increased  facility  of 
exchange,  instead  of  diffusing  plenty,  spreads  poverty,  instead  of 
carrying  the  stocks  of  the  communities  exchanging  towards  the 
more  quickly  returning  orders,  places  them  in  those  of  slower 
return,  we  may  assure  ourselves  that  vanity  must  have  been  a 
very  potent  agent  in  giving  to  the  commodities  exchanged  the 
estimation  in  which  they  were  held. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  example  that  was  ever  presented, 
of  general  and  long  continued  restrictions  being  at  once  and  com- 
pletely removed,  is  that  which  occurred  in  consequence  of  the  gen- 
eral peace  succeeding  the  final  defeat  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon. 
A  power  which  modern  times  cannot  parallel,  had  been  long  ex- 
erted to  bind  up  the  commerce  of  Europe.  It  had  been  exerted  in 
vain,  for  that  commerce  still  moved,  though  it  moved  in  shackles. 
The  termination  of  the  war  undid  them  at  once.  The  ships  of  the 
merchant  again  securely  passed  from  land  to  land,  and  he  again, 
without  fear,  exposed  his  wares  in  every  market.  Had  the  com- 
modities thus  largely  exchanged,  been  altogether  utilities,  it  is 
impossible  but  that  a  vast  improvement  must  have  been  univer- 
sally experienced,  an  augmentation  of  the  resources  of  society 
every  where  felt.  The  havock  and  insecurity  of  war,  and  the 
waste  of  stock  and  labor  attending  it  were  done  away  with,  and 


312  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

the  whole  energy  and  intelligence  of  the  most  powerful  and  intel- 
lectual race  which  possihly  the  world  has  as  yet  seen,  were  turned 
to  the  arts  of  peace,  and  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  man. 
Instead,  however,  of  having  to  mark  the  progress  of  abundance, 
prosperity,  and  happiness,  we  are  rather  called  on  to  note  the 
prevalence  of  poverty  and  distress.  It  is,  I  apprehend,  impossi- 
ble, to  explain  the  far  extended  oppression  under  which  capital 
and  industry  have  labored,  but  by  admitting  that  they  have 
applied  themselves  largely  to  objects,  the  direct  effects  of  the 
attainment  of  which  are  worse  than  useless  to  society.  Misery 
it  is  true  is  clamorous,  happiness  is  quiet,  and  therefore  the 
amount  of  the  actual  distress  may  sometimes  have  been  made  to' 
appear  greater  than  the  reality,  but  admitting  a  large  deduction  for 
misrepresentation  thence  arising,  there  remain  too  many  well 
authenticated  facts  and  statements  to  doubt,  that  if  freedom  of 
intercourse  and  competition  has  produced  good,  it  has  also  pro- 
duced evil,  and  hence  that  luxuries  have  made  a  large  part  of  the 
commodities  in  the  production  of  which  that  competition  has  ex- 
erted its  powers.  We  may  observe  too,  that  countries  producers 
of  articles  which  cannot  be  accounted  luxuries,  have  in  fact 
derived  great  advantages  from  the  facihty  of  intercourse  and 
increase  of  exchanges.  Russia  seems  never  to  have  made  so 
rapid  advances,  as  within  the  last  twenty  years,  while  in  Great 
Britain  protracted  misery  and  distress  were  never  so  rife  as  they 
have  been  for  the  greater  part  of  that  period.  Were  European 
nations  ranged  according  to  their  productions,  those  two  countries 
would  probably  be  at  opposite  extremities  of  the  scale  of  industry. 


CHA  PTER   XIII 


OF  WASTE. 

The  causes  arising  from  deficiencies  in  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual powers  retarding  the  progress  of  improvement  and  accu- 
mulation, and  diminishing  the  stocks  of  societies,  which  we  have 
hitherto  noticed,  refer  to  the  matter  of  which  commodities  con- 
sist. There  are  others  proceeding  apparently  from  the  same 
circumstances,  which  create  difficulties  in  the  exchange  and  pres- 
ervation of  instruments,  and  may  be  said  to  relate  to  the  manner 
in  which  exchanges  are  made  and  instruments  preserved. 

Every  thing  retarding,  or  interposing  difficulties  in  the  exchange 
of  instruments,  must  have  the  effect  of  placing  them  in  orders  of 
slower  return.  It  must  lengthen  the  period  of  exhaustion,  or 
add  to  the  labor  of  formation.  Instruments  may  be  exchanged, 
as  we  have  seen,  either  by  barter  or  cash,  or,  through  the  inter- 
vention of  credit,  —  a  promise  to  deliver  an  equivalent  at  some 
future  time. 

In  the  case  of  transfers  by  barter  or  cash,  were  the  holders  of 
instruments  so  exchanged  to  represent  them  exactly  for  what 
they  are,  all  difficulties  would  be  done  away  with,  not  arising 
from  the  nature  of  the  things  themselves.  But  it  is  the  business 
of  every  exchanger  to  buy  as  cheaply,  and  sell  as  dearly,  as  pos- 
sible, and  he  very  frequently,  I  might  say  generally,  endeavors 
to  do  so  by  representing  things  to  be  other  than  what  they  are. 
Were  any  one,  for  example,  desirous  of  purchasing  a  horse, 
morally  certain  that  to  whatsoever  vender  of  those  animals  he 
applied,  he  would  tell  him,  as  nearly  as  he  himself  knew,  the 
qualities  of  the  horses  he  had  on  hand,  and  their  just  value,  any 
purchase  of  this  sort  he  might  have  to  make  would  be  made 
with  facility  and  at  once.     The  purchaser,  however,  can  seldom 

40 


314  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

depend  on  the  accuracy  of  the  statements  he  so  receives.  He 
is  often  obhged  to  take  much  trouble,  and  to  spend  no  little  time, 
before  he  makes  his  bargain,  and,  notwithstanding,  is  not  unfre- 
quently  deceived.  The  time  and  money  thus  expended,  both 
by  the  sellers  and  purchasers  of  horses,  and  other  commodities, 
is  so  much  loss  to  the  community,  and  places  the  instruments  on 
which  they  are  expended  in  orders  of  more  slow  return.  Indirectly, 
too,  they  may  occasion  more  serious  losses.  If  a  farmer  be  deceived 
in  the  purchase  of  a  horse,  it  may  very  injuriously  retard  his 
operations  at  the  moment  when  it  is  most  necessary  for  him  to 
advance  them.  If  a  builder  be  deceived  in  the  timber  he  pur- 
chases, it  may  occasion  the  speedy  decay  of  the  whole  fabric  he 
erects. 

The  amount  of  loss  arising,  both  directly  and  indirectly,  from 
successful  or  unsuccessful  attempts  to  pass  off  commodities  for 
what  they  are  not,  is,  I  apprehend,  determined  by  the  weakness 
of  the  social  and  benevolent  affections  and  intellectual  powers. 
Where  there  is  the  most  lively  sympathy  with  the  distresses  and 
losses  of  others,  one  will  be  most  restrained  from  being  the  cause 
of  loss  to  another,  both  from  the  promptings  of  his  own  feelings, 
and  from  a  consideration  of  the  sentiments  with  which  others  will 
regard  him.  Where  the  tendency  and  consequences  of  actions 
are  most  clearly  seen,  one  will  be  most  cautious  of  doing  any 
thing,  which,  by  weakening  general  confidence  and  security,  may 
prejudicially  affect  the  interests  of  society.  Such  losses  will 
therefore  be  least  frequent  where  the  accumulative  principle 
is  strongest,  and  most  frequent  where  it  is  weakest. 

In  China  every  man  who  sells  tells  as  many  lies  as  he  thinks 
have  any  chance  of  passing.  He  is  never  ashamed  at  being 
detected.  When  that  happens,  he  merely  compliments  the 
person  discovering  the  intended  deception  on  his  sagacity. 
Among  the  ancients,  both  Greeks  and  Romans,  all  sorts  of 
trickery  and  artifice  in  purchasers  and  sellers  seem  to  have  been 
common.  Plato  makes  Socrates  say  that,  in  traffic  and  com- 
merce, there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  honest  man,  and  Cicero  has 
a  remark  very  similar.  These,  and  the  like  assertions  of  clas- 
sical authors,  have  indeed,  now-a-days,  been  put  down  as  mere 
prejudice,  but,  though  we  are  doubtless  a  very  acute  and  saga- 
cious generation,  I  can  scarce  think  but  that  Socrates  and  Cicero 
knew  their  own  countrymen  better  than  we  can  do.     Mercantile 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  315 

honoi-  and  fair  dealing  are  modern  terms.  Without  much  of  the 
reality  of  what  they  import,  the  extensive  transactions  now  carried 
on  between  individuals  and  communities  could  not  exist.  Never- 
theless, the  things  to  which  they  are  applied  want  often  not  a 
little  of  being  fitly  so  described,  and  the  deficiency  in  all  com- 
munities occasions  a  large  portion  of  the  outlay  necessary  to  the 
formation  of  instruments. 

Deceit,  however,  it  is  to  be  observed,  when  exercised  in  the 
exchange  of  mere  luxuries,  occasions  an  immediate  gain,  instead 
of  loss,  to  communities.  When  there  was  a  prohibition  on  French 
silks  imported  into  Britain,  they  were  particularly  fashionable, 
their  great  expense  rendered  them  a  fit  material  for  vanity.  The 
British  manufacturer  could  make  fabrics  not  to  be  distinguished 
from  them,  but  which  of  course  as  British  goods  would  not  sell. 
They  were,  however^  readily  vended  as  smuggled  French  goods 
by  individuals  hired  to  hawk  them  about  under  that  guise.  The 
deceit  was  certainly  an  immediate  loss  to  no  one,  a  consid- 
erable gain  to  the  manufacturer.*  The  ulterior  effects  of  all 
deceit,  however,  in  weakening  the  moral  principle,  must  ever  be 
injurious  to  communities. 

In  exchanges  effected  by  the  intervention  of  credit  the  neces- 
sity of  perfect  fair  dealing  is  more  apparent,  and  the  losses  occa- 
sioned by  fraud  and  deceit  still  greater.  The  persons  giving  the 
credit  must  generally  depend  for  repayment  on  the  good  faith  of 
the  persons  receiving  it.  The  extent  consequently  to  which 
these  transactions  can  in  any  community  be  carried,  must  be 
measured  by  the  general  probity  of  its  members.  Where  people 
are  inclined  to  make  promises  which  they  have  reason  to  fear 
they  may  not  be  able  to  fulfil,  or  which  they  know  they  cannot 
fulfil,  the  system  of  credit  is  confined  or  destroyed. 

The  prevalence  of  a  spirit  of  integrity  in  credit  transactions, 
would  seem  to  proceed  from  similar  principles  to  those,  on  which 
good  faith  and  honesty  in  all  transactions  depend. 

The  exchange  of  instruments  between  communities  is  ob- 
structed by  restrictions,  prohibitions,  or  war.  To  the  efiects  of 
these  we  have  already  partially  adverted.  They  operate  differ- 
ently, as  the  commodities  are  utilities,  or  luxuries. 

1.  An  interruption  of  the  exchange  of  utilities  between  com- 

*  Hansard's  Debates.  March  8th,  1824. 


316  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

munities  checks  accumulation,  by  taking  from  it  the  materials  on 
which  it  exerts  itself;  it  excites  the  inventive  faculty,  by  prompt- 
ing it  to  discover  fresh  materials,  and  new  means  of  forming  them 
into  instruments.  According,  therefore,  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  community,  and  the  nature  of  the  materials  within  reach  of 
its  members,  it  may  either  come  to  be  a  good  or  an  evil. 

Were  the  intercourse  between  two  communities,  of  which  the 
one  A  exchanges  coal  for  the  wool  of  the  other  B,  suddenly  to 
cease,  the  event  might  be  felt  as  a  very  great  evil,  and,  at  first, 
the  substitutes  for  these  materials  requiring  more  labor  to  work 
them  up  into  instruments  of  the  sort  required,  the  whole  stock 
of  instruments  possessed  by  both  societies  might  be  carried  on 
in  the  series  some  distance  towards  the  more  slowly  returning 
orders.  It  might  happen,  however,  that  in  the  society  B  import- 
ing coal,  there  were  beds  of  coal  as  easy  to  work  as  in  A,  and 
that  in  the  other  A  importing  wool,  there  were  tracts  of  land  as 
capable  of  feeding  sheep  as  those  employed  for  that  purpose  in 
B.  In  this  case,  it  is  probable  that  invention  would  apply  to 
such  materials,  and  that,  in  time,  coal  would  be  obtained  in  B, 
at  as  cheap  a  rate  as  in  A,  and  wool  in  A  at  as  cheap  a  rate  as 
in  B.  Were  it  so,  by  the  saving  of  labor  and  of  time  in  the 
transport  of  the  commodities  from  country  to  country,  the  stocks 
of  instruments  in  both  societies  would  be  placed  in  orders  of  more 
quick  return  than  they  were  at  the  commencement  of  the  inter- 
ruption. Whether  the  loss  on  the  one  hand,  or  the  saving  on 
the  other,  might,  in  the  circumstances  of  either  society,  be  fitly 
esteemed  greater,  would  depend  on  whether  or  not  there  were 
materials  in  existence  that  by  the  power  of  invention  might  with 
suflicient  ease,  and  within  the  requisite  time  supply  the  particular 
wants  in  question.  There  might  not  be  fit  materials,  or  the  time 
requisite  to  work  them  up  might  be  too  long. 

Before  the  cession  of  Norway  to  Sweden,  it  was  reckoned  to 
produce  grain  or  vegetables  for  its  inhabitants  sufficient  only  for 
four  or  five  months.  Its  supplies  for  the  rest  of  the  year  were 
obtained  from  Denmark,  to  which  country,  in  return  for  corn 
received  from  it,  it  exported  timber.  When  the  great  powers 
had  resolved  on  its  annexation  to  Sweden,  a  British  fleet  block- 
aded its  coast,  the  peasantry  came  in  starving  crowds  to  the 
towns,  and  a  country  from  which  the  bravest  race  in  Europe 
once  issued,  was  compelled   to  yield  without  a  stroke.      The 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  317 

insult  then  received,  and  the  hardships  endured,  had  the  effect 
of  giving  a  great  stimukis  to  agricukure.  The  more  opulent 
formed  themselves  into  societies  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the 
art,  individuals  skilled  in  its  operations  were  engaged  in  Britain, 
and  in  a  few  years  a  great  addition  was  made  to  the  agricultural 
produce  of  the  country.*  The  time  in  this  case  required  for  the 
formation  of  instruments  was  too  great,  even  supposing  there  had 
been  a  sufficiency  of  materials  of  which  to  construct  them,  and 
had  not,  therefore,  the  society  submitted,  it  must  have  endured 
excessive  evils. 

Many  instances,  however,  might  be  cited,  where  the  interdic- 
tion by  war,  of  the  intercourse  between  different  countries,  has 
very  speedily  produced  a  supply  of  the  commodities  interdicted, 
and  apparently  without  great  injury  to  the  nation  possessing  the 
materials  necessary  for  their  formation.  "  Upon  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  war  with  France,"  observes  Mr.  Gee,f  "and 
prohibiting  French  commodities,  encouragement  was  given  for 
erecting  several  of  those  manufactures  here,  as  the  lustring, 
alamode,  and  otker  silk  manufactures  for  hoods  and  scarves  which 
the  king's  royal  consort,  the  excellent  Queen  Mary,  took  no  small 
pains  to  establish ;  for  which  article  alone  it  is  allowed  France 
drew  from  us  above  £400,000  yearly.  At  the  same  time  the  man- 
ufacture of  glass  was  established,  which  before  we  used  to  have 
from  France,  and  also  that  of  hats  and  paper.  In  his  time  also 
the  manufactures  of  copper  and  brass  were  set  on  foot,  which  are 
brought  to  great  perfection,  and  now  in  a  great  measure  supply 
the  nation  with  coppers,  kettles,  and  all  other  sorts  of  copper 
and  brass  ware.  The  making  of  sail-cloth  was  begun  and  car- 
ried on  to  great  perfection,  and  also  sword  blades,  scissors,  and  a 
great  many  toys  made  of  steel,  which  formerly  we  used  to  have 
from  France;  in  the  manufacture  of  which,  it  is  said,  we  now 
excel  all  other  nations.  The  setting  up  of  salt  works  and  im- 
proving of  salt  springs  and  rock  salt,  hath  proved  very  beneficial 
here,  and  saves  a  very  great  treasure  yearly,  which  we  heretofore 
paid  to  France  for  salt  and  a  great  many  other  things  which  I 
forbear  to  enumerate." 

Restrictions  operate  quite  oppositely  on  the  exchange  of  luxu- 

*  These  facts  I  learned  in  a  tour  through  that  country  in  1818.     I  have  no 
means  of  ascertaining  what  is  now  the  state  of  affairs  there, 
i  Trade  and  Navigation  of  Great  Britain.     Lond.  1738. 


.318  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

ries  between  communities,  from  what  they  do  on  the  exchange 
of  utifities.  Their  first  effects  are  beneficial,  while  their  ulterior 
effects  may  be  injurious.  The  "interdiction  of  a  pure  luxury 
occasions,  as  we  have  seen,  no  loss  whatever  to  the  whole  society. 
It  can  scarcely  fail  to  produce  a  gain.  If  it  diminish  the  whole 
amount  of  luxuries  consumed  in  tlie  society,  that  is  evidently  so 
much  saved.  If,  as  is  more  likely,  the  force  of  vanity  be  not 
weakened,  it  must  at  least  be  directed  to  other  objects,  probably 
to  some  domestic  imitation  of  the  foreign  article.  In  such  cases 
the  successful  imitators  will  demand  and  obtain  prices  yielding 
much  larger  profits,  than  their  capitals  would  give  in  any  other 
employments.  The  saving  of  labor,  either  in  checking  vanity, 
or  in  supplying  it  with  less  outlay,  is  gain  to  some  individuals, 
loss  to  none.  Competition,  however,  will  in  time  reduce  the 
price  paid  for  luxuries,  to  the  lowest  amount  for  which  the  laborer 
and  capitalist  will  exert  their  energies.  As  improvement  can 
have  no  effect  on  domestic  luxuries,  and  as  they  must  always  be 
rated  by  the  real  labor  bestowed  on  them,  they  are  ultimately  the 
productions  of  all  others  least  profitable  to  the  society. 

2.  The  formation  of  instruments  is  rendered  difficult  and  costly 
to  individuals,  from  frauds  and  violence  punishable  by  law.  To 
guard  against  them  always  requires  some  vigilance,  and  occasions 
some  expense,  and  often  demands  a  good  deal  of  both.  The 
loss  hence  arising  may  be  very  considerable.  It  is  said  that  the 
cloth  trade  of  Verviers,  in  France,  was  ruined  from  the  number 
of  thefts  committed  in  various  stages  of  the  manufacture,  occasion- 
ing a  loss  of  about  eight  per  cent,  on  the  quantity  produced. 

The  infrequency  of  crime  will  also,  I  apprehend,  be  found 
chiefly  to  depend  on  the  same  principles  that  give  force  to  the 
effective  desire  of  accumulation,  the  general  strength  of  the 
social  and  benevolent  affections,  and  intellectual  powers.  Where 
a  desire  of  promoting  the  common  good  prevails,  and  there  is  a 
clear  perception  of  the  means  of  doing  so,  infringements  on  the 
rights  of  individuals,  or  violence  to  their  persons,  will  be  rare. 
It  is  the  strength  of  the  moral  feelings  that  is  the  safeguard  of 
the  laws.  Where  these  are  destroyed,  or  greatly  weakened,  as 
where  a  person  has  been  cast  out  of  the  brotherhood  of  society 
by  being  marked  as  a  criminal,  the  dread  of  corporeal  pains  is 
scarcely  ever  sufficient  to  deter  from  future  trespasses. 

The  establishment  of  good  laws  and  the  security  of  the  system 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  319 

of  government,  by  diminishing  the  temptation  to  crime,  and  the 
chance  of  escape  from  its  consequences,  have  also,  no  doubt,  great 
effect.  But  sood  laws  or  government  can  neither  be  established 
nor  maintained  without  good  morals.  Where  purely  selfish  feel- 
ings prevail  laws  have  no  power. 

"  Quid  faciant  leges  ubi  sola  pecunia  re  gnat  ?  " 

The  direct  destruction  and  waste  occasioned  by  wars  make,  also, 
no  small  item  in  the  account  of  losses,  to  which  the  stocks  of  all 
communities  are  subject. 

The  loss  occasioned  by  the  deceits  and  frauds  of  individuals, 
and  by  the  prohibitions  and  violence  of  states,  may  not  unfitly  be 
termed  waste. 


CHAPTER    XIV 


OF  THE  COMBINED  OPERATION  OP  THE  CAUSES  INVESTIGATED  IN  THE 

PRECEDING  CHAPTERS. 

The  investigations  in  which  we  have  been  engaged  in  the 
preceding  chapters  seem  to  indicate  several  great  causes  as 
determining  the  nature  and  production  of  stock.  They  may  be 
divided  into  three  classes. 

I.  Regarding  things  material. 

o  o  o 

1.  The  nature  of  the  material  world,  producing  a  series  of 
events  succeeding  each  other  in  regular  order. 

2.  The  nature  of  man,  as  a  being  in  part  material,  acted  on, 
therefore,  by  matter,  and  whose  existence  and  pleasures  are, 
consequently,  dependent  on  events  taking  place  among  material 
objects. 

3.  Also  the  nature  of  man,  as  a  being  in  part  material,  and 
whose  corporeal  powers  —  his  labor,  enable  him  to  change  the 
positions  of  the  matters  around  him. 

II.  Resardino;  thinfrs  not  material. 

1.  The  intellectual  faculties  of  man,  reaching  not  to  an  abso- 
lute knowledge  of  the  material  world,  but  to  a  perception  of  the 
order  in  which  events  succeed  each  other  in  it,  and  to  a  discovery 
of  the  means  of  producing  events  necessary,  or  desirable  to  him, 
by  applying  his  corporeal  powers  to  change  the  positions  of  the 
materials  within  his  reach. 

2.  The  moral  nature  of  man,  —  the  motives  by  which  he  acts, 
determining  the  degree  in  which  he  will  be  excited  to  apply 
himself  to  the  discovery  of  the  order  in  which  events  succeed 
each  other,  and  to  changing  the  positions  of  materials,  and  so 
constructing  instruments  producing  events  ministering  to  future 
necessities  or  pleasures. 

Concerning  these  two  causes,  the  general  conclusions  at  which 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  321 

we  arrived  were;  that  the  more  the  intellectual  faculties  are 
expanded,  the  greater  the  power  to  extend  the  knowledge  of  the 
successions  of  events,  and  to  form  materials  into  instruments ; 
and  that  the  greater  the  strength  of  the  moral  powers, —  the 
social  and  benevolent  affections,  the  greater  the  desire  to  discover 
the  order  of  the  succession  of  events,  and  to  apply  such  discoveries 
to  the  formation  of  materials  into  instruments.  And  conversely  ; 
that  the  feebler  the  intellectual  faculties  and  moral  powers,  the 
less  both  the  ability  to  discover,  and  the  inclination  to  apply  dis- 
coveries to  the  formation  of  instruments,  and  the  greater  the 
tendency  to  dissipate  the  capacity  of  the  instruments  formed  in 
luxury,  and  to  waste  it  through  deceit  and  violence. 

III.  Causes  derived  partly  from  the  nature  of  the  material 
world,  and  partly  from  the  nature  of  man. 

1.  Change;  arising  from  revolutions  of  all  sorts,  by  which 
men  and  arts  are  moved  from  region  to  region.  This  places 
man  and  matter  in  new  positions,  and  discloses  to  him  new  con- 
nexions and  relations,  in  the  natures  of  the  bodies  within  reach  of 
his  operations. 

2.  Servile  imitation ;  the  antagonist  of  the  former,  by  which 
men  are  led  to  operate  by  rule,  and  not  of  knowledge,  and  the 
progress  of  invention  and  improvement  retarded. 

Strength   of  intellect  and  moral  feeling  gives  continuity  of 
existence  to  the  society,  and  leading  the  men  composing  it  to 
take  an  interest  in  distant  events,  extends  the  operations  of  their 
powers  to  the  intelligence,  and  application  to  useful  purposes,  of 
a  wide  circle  of  events.     Their  weakness,  and  the  prevalence  of 
the  opposing  causes,   folly   and   pure   selfishness,   isolates  each 
member  of  society,  contracts  the  operations  of  the  powers  of  the 
whole  to  the  consideration  and  application  of  a  narrow  circle 
of  events,  and  dissipates  and   wastes   them,  in  efforts  made  by 
each  to  raise  himself  superior  to  others,  and  by  force  or  fraud  to 
take  from  them  what  they  possess. 

There  are  thus  two  great  principles,  the  inventive,  and  accu- 
mulative, generating  stock  and  adding  to  it,  and  they  are  both  ex- 
cited and  moved,  and  enfeebled  and  restrained,  by  similar  powers. 

I.  The  inventive  principle. 

Its  strength  extending  the  power  of  man,  augments  stock,  by 
carrying  the  instruments  composing  it  to  orders  of  quicker  return. 

41 


322  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

It  is  accompanied  by  economy,  by  fidelity  to  engagements,  by  a 
diminished  inclination  to  luxury  and  waste. 

Its  weakness,  by  contracting  the  power  of  man,  prevents  the 
augmentation  of  stock.  It  is  accompanied  by  extravagance,  by 
infidelity  to  engagements,  by  a  propensity  to  luxury  and  waste. 

II.  The  accumulative  principle. 

Its  strength  leading  men  to  embrace  in  their  operations  a  wide 
circle  of  events,  accumulates  stock,  by  giving  additional  capacity 
to  instruments  already  formed,  or  by  working  up  new  materials. 
It  carries  instruments  to  orders  of  slower  return,  and  is  accompa- 
nied also  by  economy,  by  fidelity  to  engagements,  by  a  dimin- 
ished inclination  for  luxury  and  waste. 

Its  weakness,  contracting  the  compass  of  events  on  which 
there  is  an  inclination  to  operate,  diminishes  stock,  by  allowing 
materials  to  escape  from  it,  and  lie  idle,  which,  formed  into  instru- 
ments, would  yield  abundant,  though  distant  returns.  Under  it 
instruments  can  only  exist  at  the  more  quickly  returning  orders. 
It  is  accompanied,  also,  by  extravagance,  by  infidelity  to  engage- 
ments, by  a  propensity  to  luxury  and  waste. 

The  consideration  of  the  mode  of  operation  of  these  two  prin- 
ciples suggests  the  following  remark. 

If,  in  any  society,  instruments  be  at  orders  of  speedy  return, 
and  we  have  not  the  means  of  ascertaining  whether  or  not  this 
proceeds  from  the  actual  recent  progress  of  invention,  we  may 
fairly  conclude  it  does  so,  if,  in  that  society,  .there  be  much 
economy,  little  luxury,  good  faith  in  exchanges,  fidelity  in  the 
discbarge  of  promises,  credit  consequently  extensively  prevailing, 
and  few  breaches  in  the  peace,  or  transgressions  of  the  laws  of 
the  community.  If,  on  the  contrary,  there  be  little  economy, 
much  luxury,  a  want  of  good  faith  and  fidelity,  credit  narrowed, 
frequent  public  and  private  crimes,  we  may  certainly  conclude 
that  this  position  of  instruments  arises  from  a  deficiency  in  the 
accumulative,  not  from  recent  progress  of  the  inventive  principle. 

Upon  these  two  principles,  the  third  set  of  causes  referred  to 
operate  somewhat  differently.  Change  excites  the  principle  of 
invention,  but  often  directly  restrains  that  of  accumulation.  Imi- 
tation restrains  invention,  but  does  not  directly  retard  accumu- 
lation. 

The  several  causes  referred  to,  rank  among  the  chief  agents 
in  the  production  of  the  phenomena  which  the  progress  of  society 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  323 

exhibits.  We  have  considered  them  separately,  but  they  never 
appear  so,  ahvays  acting  in  combination.  This  circumstance 
would  not  of  itself  aft'ect  any  conclusions  concerning  them,  for  it 
applies  to  phenomena  of  all  sorts,  the  causes  influencing  every 
one  being  compound.  But  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  human 
mind,  rather  excited  to  action  by  motives,  than  passively  operated 
on  by  them,  and  moulding,  therefore,  its  energies  to  suit  the 
course  it  adopts,  occasions  a  difference  between  phenomena  influ- 
enced by  it  and  all  others.  Hence,  according  to  the  preponder- 
ating motive,  and  the  course  of  action  followed,  the  same  powers 
and  principles  take  opposite  directions,  and  the  will  is  able  to 
draw  to  its  purposes  and  make  allies  of  those  which  would  seem 
naturally  opposed  to  it. 

Thus  in  an  intelligent  and  moral  community,  the  vanity  of  the 
mother  is  gratified  in  the  well-being  of  the  child,  and  she  prides 
herself  in  the  proofs  of  her  having  been  an  affectionate  and  care- 
ful parent.  In  a  vain  and  dissipated  community,  on  the  other 
hand,  she  would  be  ashamed  of  devoting  her  attention  to  the 
homely  and  unostentatious  cares  to  which  a  solicitude  for  the 
welfare  of  offspring  prompts.  In  the  one  case  vanity  excites 
parental  affection,  in  the  other  it  stifles  it.  The  movement  of 
the  mind,  in  these  instances,  is  somewhat  analogous  to  that  of 
those  balances,  in  which  the  poise,  if  in  the  least  inclining  to  one 
side  or  the  other,  hurries  it  down  with  a  rapid  and  continually 
increasing  preponderance. 

This  proneness  in  humanity  to  advance  or  recede  with  a  speed 
accelerated  by  the  subjugation  of  opposing  motives,  helps  to 
afford  an  explanation  of  what  I  conceive  to  be  one  of  the  main 
causes  of  the  decay  of  states. 

To  add  continually  to  the  stock  of  any  community,  even  some- 
times to  maintain  it  without  diminution  at  its  actual  amount,  is  a 
process  in  the  prosecution  of  which  difficulties  always  oppose. 
While  the  funds  of  any  society  increase,  the  numbers  among 
whom  those  funds  are  to  be  shared  also  increase.  The  greater 
annual  revenue  which  invention  and  accumulation  provide,  though 
it  must  support  a  more  numerous  population,  may  not  support  a 
population  having,  individually,  a  greater  share  of  the  means  of 
comfort  or  pleasure,  than  that  possessed  by  the  members  of  the 
society  when  improvement  was  yet  in  its  infancy.  To  carry 
the  community  still  farther  onward,  even  perhaps  to  maintain  it 


324  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK 

in  its  place,  requires,  therefore,  generally,  that  the  interests  of 
futurity  should  hold  the  same  relation  to  those  of  present  time 
in  the  minds  of  the  members  of  the  society  as  ever.  If,  there- 
fore, among  any  of  the  divisions  of  the  body  politic,  futurity  weighs 
more  lightly  when  compared  with  the  present  than  it  did  before, 
there  there  will  be  weakness,  an  incapacity  to  advance  or  even  to 
maintain  the  same  position  may  be  experienced,  and  that  which 
is  defective  drawing  to  it  what  is  sound,  from  this  point  the  pro- 
gress from  bad  to  worse  may  commence.  The  course  of  society 
may  thus  be  said  to  be  always  against  an  opposing  current,  which, 
if  it  cannot  be  stemmed,  sweeps  downward  with  headlong  force. 

"  Sic  omnia  fatis 
In  pejus  ruere,  ac  retro  sublapsa  referri. 
Non  aliter,  quam  qui  adverse  vix  flumine  lembuin 
Remigiis  subegit :  si  brachia  forte  remisit, 
Atque  ilium  in  prseceps  prono  rapit  alveus  amni." 

As  a  foundation  for  the  few  observations  which  our  limits  per- 
mit me  to  make  on  this  part  of  the  subject,  it  is  necessary  to 
refer  to  a  circumstance,  the  truth  of  which  was  assumed  in  an 
early  part  of  the  discussion.  "  The  numbers  of  every  society," 
it  was  said,  "  increase,  as  what  its  members  are  inclined  to  esteem 
a  sufficient  subsistence,  is  provided  for  them."  * 

The  only  classes  in  society  which  our  inquiry  has  considered, 
are  the  two  of  capitalists  and  laborers.  With  regard  to  them  we 
might  a  priori,  and  abstracting  our  attention  from  what  we  know 
to  be  the  fact,  be  in  doubt  which  of  the  following  suppositions 
would  be  correct. 

We  might  suppose  that  both  classes  would  reckon  that  a  suf- 
ficient subsistence  which  had  supported  themselves,  and  that  the 
numbers  of  both  being  equally  multiplied,  the  average  revenues 
of  the  individuals  composing  both  might  remain  the  same ;  or  we 
might  suppose  that  neither  class  would  reckon  that  a  sufficient 
subsistence  on  which  they  had  been  supported,  and  that  they 
would  not  add  to  their  numbers  but  in  a  proportion  less  than  the 
additional  funds  provided,  so  that  the  average  individual  incomes 
of  both  capitalists  and  laborers,  would  be  equally  and  continually 
increased;  or,  finally,  we  might  suppose  that  the  capitalists 
would  add  more  to  their  numbers  than  to  their  revenues,  or  that 
the  laborers  might  do  the  same  thing. 

*  Page  96. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  325 

But  though  it  might  be  difficult,  a  priori,  to  determine  which 
of  these  would  take  place,  yet,  in  fact,  we  generally  find  that, 
in  the  progress  of  society,  the  increase  of  the  numbers  of  capi- 
talists does  not  keep  pace  with  the  increase  of  their  stocks  and 
incomes,  while  that  of  laborers  does  keep  pace,  or  does  more 
than  keep  pace  with  their  incomes. 

The  cause  of  this  circumstance  may,  I  think,  be  shortly  stated, 
as  follows. 

Marriage  may  be  desired  both  for  the  pleasures  of  sense,  and 
for  those  of  sentiment  and  affection.  But,  among  men  of  even 
moderate  fortune,  it  does  not  in  general  add  to  the  sum  of  their 
purely  sensual  gratifications.  It  were  obviously  absurd,  consider- 
ing the  lives  which  most  young  men  in  this  class  in  Europe  lead, 
to  speak  of  celibacy  as  implying  abstinence.  Purely  selfish  mo- 
tives will  never,  therefore,  lead  such  men  to  form  this  connexion. 
They  will  rather  keep  them  from  it,  vanity  aiding,  or  prompting 
them  to  the  resolution  of  refraining  from  any  such  union,  until 
they  have  a  prospect  of  raising  their  families  above  their  own 
rank. 

Among  men  in  the  laboring  class,  again,  marriage  generally 
adds  to  the  amount  of  immediate  sensual  gratifications.  Purely 
selfish  motives,  therefore,  side  with  those  of  sentiment  and  affec- 
tion in  prompting  them  to  it,  and  they  are  not  so  apt  to  entertain 
the  ambition  of  raising  their  families  above  their  own  condition. 
Hence,  while  capitalists  are  inclined  to  think  that  only  a  suffi- 
cient subsistence  for  their  offspring,  which  exceeds  what  they 
themselves  were  supported  on,  laborers  are  content  if  they  leave 
their  children  in  the  same  condition  with  themselves.  It  thus 
happens,  that  the  one  class  has  a  tendency  continually  to  rise 
above  the  other. 

This  separation  has  farther  effects. 

Vanity  itself  is  sometimes  a  coadjutor  to  the  accumulative 
principle.  A  man's  pride  is  sensibly  gratified  by  rising,  as  it  is 
called,  in  the  world,  and  placing  himself  on  an  equality  widi 
those  to  whom  he  was  once  inferior.  But  the  further  they  are 
above  him,  the  greater  his  difficulty  in  raising  himself  to  their 
level,  and  the  less  his  hopes  of  any  gratification  to  mere  vanity 
from  this  source.  It  is,  I  apprehend,  in  a  great  measure  on  this 
account,  that  as  capital  increases,  there  are  fewer  instances  of 
laborers  making  vigorous  efforts  to  accumulate  property.     Vanity, 


326  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

losing  hopes  of  acquiring  distinction  by  accumulation,  is  entirely 
occupied  in  exciting  to  dissipation.  The  laborer  seeks  preemi- 
nence in  displaying  his  abilities  to  spend,  and  employs  any 
spare  funds  he  may  possess  in  the  purchase  of  fineries,  in  treating 
his  companions  at  the  ale-house,  and  in  similar  extravagancies. 

The  prevalence  of  such  habits  and  sentiments  among  the 
laboring  classes,  produces  various  evils.  Neglect  to  employ  any 
part  of  the  earnings  of  to-day,  in  making  provision  for  the  wants 
of  to-morrow,  every  now  and  then,  when  that  morrow  brings 
nothing  for  itself,  gives  rise  to  severe  suffering.  The  condition 
of  the  laborer  fluctuates  between  abundance  and  dissipation,  and 
want  and  misery.  The  society  loses,  first,  the  benefits  of  that 
stock,  which  the  laboring  classes  accumulate  in  a  better  state  of 
things.  It  loses,  also,  the  amount  requisite  to  keep  the  laborer 
from  starvation  w^ien  in  necessity,  or  to  raise  up  other  laborers, 
to  supply  the  place  of  those  who  perish  from  want,  or  the  dis- 
eases consequent  on  it.  These  may  be  called  direct  evils,  those 
which  are  indirect  are  much  greater. 

Waste  accompanies  dissipation.  When  laborers  are  in  general 
improvident  and  extravagant,  very  many  of  them  must  be  dis- 
honest. Men  are  naturally  suspicious  of  persons  whose  expen- 
diture exceeds  the  bounds  of  prudence,  and  they  have  too  often 
reason  to  be  so.  Honesty  is  at  last  the  best  policy,  but  it  is 
only  at  last.  Deceit  and  knavery  very  often  succeed  better  at 
first,  and,  therefore,  people  who  look  not  beyond  what  is  present 
and  immediate,  are  very  apt  to  resort  to  artifice  and  fraud,  to  get 
rid  of  the  necessities  which  their  extravagance  brings  on  them. 
Hence,  such  a  state  of  things  would  imply  much  watchfulness, 
many  checks  and  contrivances  to  guard  against  fraud  and  vio- 
lence, and  much  loss,  both  from  them  and  from  the  expensive 
machinery  necessary  to  restrain  them.  The  most  prejudicial, 
however,  of  all  the  mischiefs  that  belong  to  our  subject,  brought 
on  by  vicious  principles  of  action  pervading  the  lower  classes,  is 
the  gradual  spread  of  similar  manners  and  feelings  through  all 
the  orders  of  the  state.  The  middle  and  higher  classes  of  society 
may  be  said  to  rest  upon  the  lower;  when  decay,  therefore, 
infects  the  foundation,  the  structure  must  fall.  By  looking  back 
for  a  generation  or  two,  we  shall  find  that  nearly  all  the  capital- 
ists in  the  nation  have  sprung  directly  from  the  people,  and  that 
to  them  we  must  finally  trace  the  greater  part  of  that  honorable 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  337 

enterprise,  frugality,  and  perseverance,  which  liave  given  pros- 
perity and  power  to  the  state.  When  the  principles  that  actuate 
the  great  lower  and  sustaining  mass  have  a  large  mixture  of 
benevolence,  self-denial,  and  probity,  and  when  there  is  nothing 
in  the  institutions  of  the  society  keeping  them  down  as  a  degraded 
caste,  there  is  a  constant  mounting  upwards  of  the  elements  of 
health  and  strength,  giving  firmness  and  vigor  to  the  whole  body 
politic ;  when,  on  the  contrary,  the  proper  vices  of  the  higher 
ranks,  luxury,  extravagance,  and  their  attendant  evils,  instead  of 
being  counteracted  by  a  continual  infusion  of  the  severer  manners, 
and  mere  self-denying  morals,  that  should  belong  to  the  lower, 
find  those  orders  partaking  as  far  as  possible  their  follies  and 
levities,  admiring  them,  and  if  required  ready  to  minister  to  them, 
we  may  assure  ourselves  that  much  unsoundness  lurks  beneath 
whatever  show  of  prosperity  the  outward  condition  of  national 
affairs  may  exhibit.  It  will,  I  believe,  be  found  that,  in  civilized 
societies,  decay  has  generally  thus  proceeded  from  below  upwards, 
and  that  a  deficiency  in  the  lower  classes,  of  the  principles  exciting 
to  economy,  has  gradually  checked  accumulation  and  invention 
throughout  the  whole  body,  and  at  length  produced  universal 
degeneracy  and  decay,  and  introduced  the  reign  of  waste  and 
violence.  "  Semper  in  civitate,  quibus  opes  nulla^  sunt,  bonis 
invident ;  vetera  odere,  nova  exoptant ;  odia  suarum  I'erum 
mutare  omnia  petunt." 

The  experience  of  all  ages  proves  the  justice  of  the  observa- 
tion of  the  Roman  historian.  That  state  can  never  enjoy  tran- 
quility, which  is  oppressed  by  a  crowd  of 

"  Hungry  beggars, 
Thirsting  for  a  time  of  pell-mell  havock 
And  confusion." 

But  to  trace  at  length  the  connexion  between  these  is  impossible, 
without  reference  to  the  subjects  of  rent,  and  of  population,  which 
are  not  embraced  in  our  plan.  I  may,  however,  in  conclusion, 
observe  that  though,  for  the  sake  of  simplicity  of  exposition,  I 
have  assumed,  all  along,  that  the  wages  of  labor  constitute  an 
invariable  quantity,  I  yet  conceive  that,  in  a  society  making  a 
steady  and  healthy  progress,  they  should  rather  be  continually 
increasing,  the  laborer  as  well  as  the  capitalist,  gaining  something 
by  the  improvements  which  the  progress  of  invention  produces. 


CHAPTER    XV 


OF  THE   WEALTH  OF  NATIONS  AS  A  BRANCH  OF  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 

INDUCTION. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  there  is  an  essential  difference  be- 
tween the  modes  of  investigation  which  I  have  followed  in  the 
preceding  pages,  and  those  guiding  the  speculations  of  the  cele- 
brated philosopher,  from  whose  opinions  I  venture  to  dissent. 
Where  the  principles  of  investigation  are  different,  the  conclusions 
arrived  at  can  hardly  agree ;  and  I  scarce  think,  therefore,  that 
I  should  assist  the  reader  in  forming  an  opinion  on  the  subject, 
by  entering  into  a  particular  discussion  of  the  points  in  which  we 
are  at. variance.  The  views  I  have  endeavored  to  unfold  must, 
in  so  far,  stand  alone. 

It  so  happens,  however,  that  concerning  the  principles  of  inves- 
tigation themselves,  there  is  a  common  standard  to  which  the 
disciples  of  Adam  Smith  refer,  and  on  the  rules  drawn  from  which, 
I  also  conceive,  the  determination  of  the  questions  debated  must 
ultimately  rest.  Adam  Smith  has  been  said  to  have  made  politi- 
cal economy  a  science  of  experiment,  a  branch  of  the  inductive 
philosophy.*  Now,  I  apprehend,  that  the  spirit  of  the  philoso- 
phy of  the  author  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations  was  completely 
opposed  to  the  inductive  philosophy — the  philosophy  of  Bacon, 
and  that  he  never  intended  that  that  work  should  be  received  as 
if  established  on  it.  If  the  reader  agree  with  me,  he  will  proba- 
bly consider  that  the  whole  discussion  here,  in  a  measure  termi- 
nates. In  placing  before  him  the  reasons  for  my  belief,  I  shall 
confine  myself,  as  much  as  possible,  to  transcribing  the  words  of 
the  Novirni  Organum,  on  the  one  side,  and  those  of  Adam  Smith, 
in  some  of  his  speculations,  on  the  other. 

*  Say's  Introduction. and  notr  on  Storch,  p.  23.  tome  I. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  339 

Lord  Bacon  affirms,  that  there  always  have  been,  and  must 
be,  two  sorts  of  philosophy — the  popular,  and  the  inductive; 
or,  as  they  might  perhaps  be  denominated,  the  philosopliy  of 
system,  and  of  science.  In  the  one,  the  mind  explains  natural 
phenomena  according  to  its  preconceived  notions,  in  the  other, 
it  traces  out,  by  a  careful  interpretation,  the  real  connexions  be- 
tween them.*  The  former  will  always  be  the  most  popular,  and 
on  accoLuit  of  its  facility  of  explication,  and  its  fitness  for  the 
purposes  of  argument,  will  maintain  its  place  in  the  discussion  of 
all  subjects  of  general  interest ;  while  the  latter  must  be  confined 
to  a  few,  its  spirit  being  difficult  to  seize,  above  the  grasp  of  the 
commonalty,  and  only  to  be  comprehended  by  them  in  its  effects. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  the  foundation  on  which  each  of 
the  two  systems  rests. 

Necessity  obliges   men   to  attend   to  the  phenomena  around 

*  Nos  siquidem  de  deturbanda  ea,  quas  nunc  floret,  philosophia,  aut  si  quse 
alia  sit,  aat  erit,  hac  emendatior,  aut  auctior,  minime  laboramus.  Neque 
enim  ofRcimus,  quin  philosophia  ista  recepta,  et  alite  id  genus,  disputationes, 
alant,  sermones  ornent,  ad  professoria  munera,  et  vitac  civilis  compendia,  ad- 
hibeantur,  et  valeant.  Quin  etiam  aperte  significamus,  et  declaramus,  earn 
quam  nos  adducimus  philosophiam,  ad  istas  res  admodum  utilera  non  futuram. 
Non  presto  est;  neque  in  transitu  capitur  ;  neque  ex  prcenotionibus  intellectui 
blanditur ;  neque  ad  vulgi  captum,  nisi  per  utilitatem,  et  eiFeeta  descendet. 

Sint  itaque  (quod  felix  faustum  que  sit  utrique  parti)  duae  doctrinarum 
emanationes,  ac  duiE  despensationes ;  duae  similiter  contemplantium,  sive 
philosophantium  tribus,  ac  veluti  cognationes ;  atque  illae  neuticum  inter  se 
inimicae,  aut  aliense,  sed  faederatoe,  et  mutius  auxiliis  devincta; ;  sit  denique 
alia  scientias  colendi,  alia  inveniendi  ratio.  Atque  quibus  prima  potior  et 
acceptior  est,  ob  festinationem,  vel  vitas  civilis  rationes,  vel  quod  illam  alter- 
am ob  mentis  infirmitatem  capere  et  coniplecti  non  possint  (id  quod  longe 
plurimis  accidere  necesse  est,)  optamus,  ut  iis  feliciter,  et  ex  vote  succedat, 
quod  agunt ;  atque  ut  quod  sequuntur,  teneant.  Quod  si  cui  mortalium  cordi 
et  curae  sit,  non  tantum  inventis  haerere,  atque  iis  uti,  sed  ad  ulteriora  pene- 
trare  ;  atque  non  disputando  adversarium,  sed  opere  naturam  vincere ;  deni- 
que, non  belle  et  probabiliter  opinare,  sed  certo  et  ostensive  scire  ;  — Atque 
ut  melius  intelligamur,  atque  illud  ipsum  quod  volumus,  ex  nominibus 
impositis  magis  familiariter  occurat ;  altera  ratio,  sive  via,  anticipatio  mentis.; 
altera,  hderpretatio  naturcE,  a  nobis  appellari  consuevit."      Praef.  II.  Instaur. 

"  Ut  cunque  enim  varia  sint  genera  politiarum,  unicus  est  status  scientia- 
rum,  isque  semper  fuit  et  mansurus  est  popularis.  Atque  apud  populura 
plurimum  vigent  doctrinae,  aut  contentiosae  et  pugnaces,  aut  speciosae  et 
inanes ;  quales  videlicet  assensum  aut  illaqueant,  aut  demulcent."  Prfflf. 
Inst. 

"  Quinetiam  significamus  aperte,  ea,  qute  nos,  adducimus,  ad  is  tns  res  non 
multum  idonea  futura ;  cum  ad  vulgi  captum  deduci  omnino  non  possint, 
nisi  per  effecta  et  opera  tantum.'     Lib.  I.  c.  xxviii. 

42 


330  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

them,  to  mark  their  actual  successions,  and  to  name  them. 
They  have  thus  a  store  of  general  facts,  and  of  regular  expressions 
for  them.  These,  however,  refer  not  to  the  laws  of  the  general 
system  themselves,  but  to  the  phenomena  oi  events,  the  conse- 
quences of  those  laws. 

Their  farther  discussions  regarding  them  may  be  undertaken 
for  the  purpose  either  of  explaining,  or  of  investigating  them. 
If  for  the  former  they  will  refer  to  principles  already  admitted ; 
that  is,  to  known  modes  of  succession.  If  for  the  latter,  they 
will  search  for  the  causes  on  which  those  common  successions 
proceed.     An  example  will  render  this  plain. 

In  the  earliest  stages  of  society,  and  before  speculation  com- 
menced, men  would  make  some  general  observations  concerning 
the  motions  of  the  different  bodies  about  them.  They  would 
observe,  for  instance,  that,  unless  prevented  by  some  obstacle, 
most  bodies  fall  to  the  earth.  Adopting  this  observation  as  a 
general  rule,  when  they  saw  one  so  falling,  they  would  conceive 
of  the  event  as  a  usual  or  natural  occurrence.  A  savage,  when, 
in  traversinof  the  forest,  he  sees  a  rotten  branch  break  off  and 
fall  to  the  ground,  thinks  of  it  as  an  event  which  is  a  necessary  con- 
sequence of  its  nature,  and,  if  his  language  furnished  the  expres- 
sion, might  say  it  was  a  natural  motion  in  it  as  a  heavy  body. 
Were  he  to  see  the  same  broken  branch  moving  rapidly  through  the 
air  upwards,  or  horizontally,  he  would  conceive  of  it  as  not  pro- 
ceeding from  its  own  nature,  but  from  some  disturbing  cause,  and 
might  call  it  a  motion  produced  by  violence.  He  would  observe 
too,  that  some  substances,  as  air,  and  what  he  calls  fire,  rise 
upwards.  He  would  so  conclude,  that  all  light  bodies  ascended. 
In  the  same  manner,  the  heavenly  bodies  seem  to  him  to  have 
naturally  a  circular  motion. 

Let  us  now  suppose  that  the  two  sorts  of  philosophy :  1st.  the 
explanatory  or  systematic,  and  2d.  the  inductive  or  scientific,  in 
pursuit  of  their  respective  objects,  apply  themselves  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  complicated  series  of  phenomena,  connected 
with  sensible  motions  of  all  sorts. 

As  what  is  conceived  to  be  already  known  requires  no  expla- 
nation, the  philosophy  of  system  takes  things  which,  because 
familiar,  are  admitted  as  obvious,  as  the  media  for  explaining  all 
other  things.  To  do  otherwise,  were  to  undertake  a  work  foreign 
to  its  objects.     In  this  way,  under  its  hands,  the  practical  rules 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  331 

of  the  observer,  become  the  speculative  principles  of  the  philo- 
sopher. Motion  is  divided  into  natural,  and  violent.  Certain 
bodies  have  a  natural  tendency  downwards,  others  upwards, 
others  to  move  in  a  circle.  From  these  principles,  the  whole 
phenomena  are  explained  in  a  plausible  mannei',  and  arranged 
in  a  systematic  form.  Such  was  the  plan  of  the  philosophers  of 
Greece,  and  such  their  pseudo  science  of  motion.  It  is  evident, 
that  however  it  might  systematize  and  explain  facts  already 
known,  it  could  not  conduct  to  new  truths.  It  could  not  lead 
farther  than  the  principles  from  which  it  set  out,  and  these  evi- 
dently embraced  not  the  laws  of  the  general  system  of  things, 
but  only  circumstances,  the  results  of  those  laws. 

The  philosophy  of  induction  has  for  its  object  the  discovery 
of  truth.  It  seeks  for  the  laws  regulating  the  general  system. 
As  it  is  the  aim  of  the  other  to  explain  plausibly,  its  aim  is  to 
investigate  strictly.  What,  consequently,  are  to  the  one  ultimate 
principles,  are  to  the  other  collections  of  facts,  the  causes  of  which 
are  to  be  inquired  into.  When,  therefore,  this  philosophy  ap- 
plied itself  to  the  consideration  of  the  phenomena  of  motion,  it 
pronounced  the  whole  antecedent  system  factitious  and  foreign  to 
its  objects,  and  commencing  their  investigation  sagaciously  and 
diligently  anew,  it  discovered  the  real  and  simple  laws  regulating 
the  various  series  of  these  events.* 

To  which  of  those  opposite  sects  does  Adam  Smith  belong? 
and  on  which  of  these  two  modes  are  the  principles  guiding  his 
speculations  framed? 

To  me  it  appears  that  his  philosophy  is  that  of  explanation 
and  system,  and  that  his  speculations  are  not  to  be  considered  as 
inductive  investigations  and  expositions  of  the  real  principles 
guiding  the  successions  of  phenomena,  but  as  successful  efforts 
to  arrange  with  regularity,  according  to  common  and  preconceived 
notions,  a  multiplicity  of  known  facts. 

My  reasons  for  this  opinion  are  drawn,  1st.  from  the  object 
at  which  his  philosophy  aims :  2d.  from  the  methods  which  he 
adopts  to  attain  it:  3d.  from  the  consequences  which  have  result- 

*  Etiam  quum  de  causis  motuum  aliquid  significare  volunt,  atque  divi- 
sionem  ex  illis  instituere,  difTerentiam  motus  naturalis  et  violent!,  maxima 
cum  socordia,  introducunt;  quae  et  ipsa  omnino  ex  notione  vulgari  est ;  cum 
oranis  motus  violentus  etiam  naturalis  revera  sit,  —  ista  mere  popularia  sunt, 
et  nullo  modo  in  Naturam  penetrant,     Nov.  Org.  Lib.  I.  Ixvi. 


332  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

ed^from  his  labors.     I  shall  arrange  the  proofs  for  the  justice  of 
this  conclusion,  which  I  purpose  submitting  to  the  reader,  accord- 
ing to  these  three  heads ;  contrasting  in  each  the  spirit  and  con- 
sequences of  his  speculative  principles  with  those  of  the  inductive 
philosophy. 

I.  According  to  Adam  Smith  "Wonder,  and  not  any  expecta- 
tion of  advantage  from  its  discoveries,  is  the  first  principle  which 
prompts  mankind  to  the  study  of  philosophy,  of  that  science 
which  pretends  to  lay  open  the  concealed  connexions  that  unite 
the  various  appearances  of  nature;* — philosophical  systems  are 
to  be  considered  as  mere  inventions  of  the  imagination,  to  con- 
nect together  the  otherwise  disjointed  and  discordant  phenomena 
of  nature." — "A  philosophical  system  is  an  imaginary  machine 
invented  to  connect  together  in  the  fancy,  tho^e  different  move- 
ments and  effects,  which  are  already  in  reality  performed."  f 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  account  of  the  object  of  philoso- 
phy is  quite  opposite  to  that  given  in  the  Novum  Organum. 
The  passages  already  quoted  may  show  this  and  many  others 
might  be  adduced.  It  is  throughout  the  endeavor  of  the  founder 
of  the  experimental  philosophy  to  hold  out  truth  itself,  and  the 
benefits  to  be  derived  from  it  as  its  object,  to  show  that  this  we 
can  never  reach  by  any  effort  of  the  mere  reasoning  and  imagin- 
ative faculties,  or  in  any  other  manner  than  through  patient 
inductio  n,J  and  that  that  framing  of  systems  explanatory  of  things 
already  known  is  foreign  to  its  purposes. <§> 

*  z/ta  TO  davfi<jc'C,Bi,p  6i  dvdpomoi  nal  rvv  ttuI  to  TTfCorov  ^nf^avlo  cpiJ-oao- 
gieip,  &c.     Arist.  Lib.  I.  Cap.  2.  Metaph. 

t  These  passages  are  quoted  from  one  of  his  posthumous  works  :  "  The 
Principles  which  lead  and  direct  Philosophical  Inquiries,  illustrated  by  the 
History  of  Astronomy,  of  Ancient  Physics,  Logic,  and  Metaphysics."  It  may 
perhaps  be  thought  that  in  this  work  he  represents  only  what  he  conceives 
to  be  the  actual  path  of  philosophy,  not  that  which  it  should  pursue.  1  do 
not  think  so,  because  the  declarations  of  his  particular  friends  intimate  the  con- 
trary-,  thus  his  editors  say,  in  reference  to  the  fragment  on  Astronomy,  that 
it  is  to  be  viewed  as  an  additional  illustration  of  those  principles  of  the  hu- 
man mind,  which  Mr.  Smith  has  pointed  out  to  be  the  universal  motives  of 
philosophical  researches.  Dugald  SteWart,  also,  in  his  life  and  introductory 
dissertation  intimates  the  same  thing.  The  best  proof,  however,  is  in  the 
course  he  actually  himself  pursued. 

+  Etenim  vcrum  examplar  mundi  in  intellectu  humano  fundamus  ;  quale 
invenitur,  non  quale  cuipiam  sua  propria  ratio  dictaverat.  —  Itaque  ipsissimae 
r<?s  sunt  (in  hoc  gcnerc)  Veritas  et  utilitas.     Nov.  Org.  Lib.  I.  cxxiv. 

§  Rursus,  si  alius  quispiam  fortasse  vcritatis  inquisitor  sit  severior  ;  tamen 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  333 

11.  Philosophy  being  thus,  according  to  Adam  Smith,  an  art 
addressing  itself  to  please  the  imagination,  it  gains  its  end  by 
searching  for  some  common  and  familiar  observation,  and  makine: 
it  serve  as  the  means  of  connecting  any  series  of  interesting  events, 
to  the  consideration  of  which  curiosity  may  direct  the  attention. 
"In  the  mean  time  it  will  serve  to  confirm  what  has  gone  before 
and  to  throw  light  upon  what  is  to  come  after,  that  we  observe, 
in  general,  that  no  system,  how  well  soever  in  other  respects 
supported,  has  even  been  able  to  gain  any  general  credit  on  the 
world,  whose  connecting  principles  were  not  such  as  were  famil- 
iar to  all  mankind."  *  It  is  by  this  circumstance  that  he  judges 
of  the  merit  of  all  philosophical  systems,  and  the  superiority  of 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  over  Des  Cartes,  consists,  according  to  him, 
in  his  discovering  that  he  could  join  together  the  movements  of 
the  planets  by  so  familiar  a  principle  of  connexion  as  that  of 
gravity,  which  completely  removed  all  the  difficulties  the  imagin- 
ation had  hitherto  felt  in  attending  to  them.f 

No  doctrin-e,  certainly,  can  be  more  opposed  to  the  spirit  of 
the  philosophy  of  Bacon  than  this.  It  is  this  propensity  to  gen- 
eralize immediately  from  a  few  familiar  notions,  that  he  all  along 
represents  as  the  vice  of  the  antecedent  system-builders,  and  the 
error  which  his  followers  have  to  guard  against.  "There  have 
been,  and  cap  be,"  he  says,  "but  two  modes  of  searching  after 
truth.  The  one  commencing  the  chain  of  reasoning  with  some 
familiar  conception  of  things,  flies  from  them  immediately  to 
general  axioms,  and  from  these,  and  their  assumed  incontroverti- 
ble truth,  judges  of  all  particulars.  A  way  of  philosophizing 
brief,  but  rash ;  easy  and  w^ell  fitted  to  conduct  to  disputes,  but 
not  leading  to  a  knowledge  of  nature.  This  is  the  common 
mode.  The  other  rises  gradually  and  slowly  from  fact  to  fact 
and  only  at  last  arrives  at  the  most  general  conclusions.  These, 
however,  are  not  notions,  the   products  of  the   imagination,  but 

et  ille  ipse  talem  sibi  proponet  veritatis  conditionem,  quse  menti,  et  intelleclui 
satisfaciat  in  redditione  causarum,  rerum  quae  jampridem  sunt  cognitSB  ;  non 
earn  quae  nova  operum  pignora,  et  novam  axiomatum  lucem  assequatur.  Ita- 
que  si  finis  scientiarum  a  nemine  adhuc  bene  positus  sit,  non  mirura  est,  si 
in  iis,  quoB  sunt  subordinata  ad  finem,  sequatur  aberratio.     Nov.  Org. 

*  History  of  Astronomy. 

+  History  of  Astronomy.  Pessimum  enim  omnium  est  augurium  quod  ex 
consensu  capitur  in  rebus  intellectualibus.  Nihil  enim  niultis  placet,  nisi 
imaginationem  feriat,  aut  intellectum  vulgarium  notionum  nodis  astringat,  ut 
supra  dictum  est.     Nov.  Org.  Lib.  I.  Ixxvii. 


334  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

real  laws  of  nature,  and  such  as  she  herself  will  acknowledge  and 
obey.*  Of  the  two,  the  fornaer,  the  explanation  of  things  accord- 
ing to  preconceived  notions,  much  more  easily  gains  assent  than 
the  latter,  its  principles,  collected  from  a  few  facts,  and  these  of 
familiar  occurrence,  seize  on  the  judgment,  and  fill  the  imagina- 
tion. Whereas,  on  the  other  hand,  a  real  interpretation  of 
nature  must  find  its  materials  in  things  very  various  in  themselves, 
and  gathered  together  from  different  quarters,  cannot  make  a 
forcible  impression  on  the  mind,  and  must  necessarily  appear  to 
it  as  something  harsh,  unusual,  and  mysterious.  Hence  in  all 
chains  of  reasoning,  having  for  their  object  not  to  gain  a  knowl- 
edge of  nature,  but  to  direct  the  opinions  of  men,  the  mode  of 
philosophizing  which  proceeds  by  arguing  from  preconceived 
notions,  will  always  be  the  m.ost  successful. "f 

I  believe  it  will  be  found,  that  the  practice  of  the  author  of 
the  Wealth  of  Nations,  every  where  agrees  with  his  theory,  and 
that  he  has  himself,  in  all  his  speculations,  adopted  the  explana- 
tory and  systematizing  form  of  philosophizing,  instead  of  the 
scientific  and  inductive,  conforming  himself  to  those  principles 
which  he  has  pointed  out  as  leading  and  directing  philosophical 
inquiry,  and  according  to  the  accuracy  of  their  agreement  with 
which,  all  systems  of  nature  have  constantly,  he  tells  us,  "  failed 
-or  succeeded  in  gaining  reputation  and  renown  to  their  authors;" 
and  that,  his  object  being  every  where  to  build  common  facts  and 
familiar  observations  into  a  system,  not  to  inquire  into  the  causes 
or  real  laws  from  which  they  spring,  he  takes  those  things  for 
fundamental  principles  which  would   present  themselves  to  the 

* "  a  sensu  et  particularibus  primo  loco  ad  maxime  gcneralia  advoletur, 

tanquam  ad  polos  fixos  circa  qiias  desputationes  vertantur  ;  ab  illis  ccetera  per 
media  deriventur  ;  via  certe  compendiaria,  sed  praecipiti ;  et  ad  Naturam  im- 
pervia,  ad  disputationes  vero  proclivi  et  accommodata.  At  secundum  nos, 
axiomala  continenter,  et  gradatim  excitantur,  ut  nonnisi  postremo  loco  ad 
generalissima  veniatur ;  ea  vero  generalissima  evadunt,  non  notionalia,  sed 
bene  terminata  ;  et  talia  qute  Natura  ut  revera  sibi  notiora  agnoscat,  quodque 
rebus  hcereant  in  meduUis."     Nov.  Org.  Praef.  et  lib.  I.  xviii.  xix. 

f  Quin  longe  validiores  sunt  ad  subeundam  assensum  anticipatlones,  quam 
interpretationes ;  quia  ex  paucis  collectae,  iisque  maxime  quae  familiariter, 
occurrunt,  intellectum  statim  perstringant,  et  phantasiam  implent;  ubi  contra, 
interpretationes,  ex  rebus  admodum  variis  et  miiltum  distantibus  sparsim 
collectae,  intellectum  subito  percutere  non  possunt;  ut  necesse  sit  eas,  quoad 
opiniones,  duras  et  absonas,  fere  instar  mystoriorum  fidei  videri.  In  scientiis, 
quae  in  opinionibus  et  placitis  fundatae  sunt,  bonus  est  usus  anticipationum 
fit  dialectical ;  qiiando  opus  est  assensum  Bubjugare,non  res.    lb.    Lib.  I.xxviii. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  335 

inductive  inquirer  as  phenomena,   the   principles  of  which  his 
manner  of  philosophizing  would  call  on  him  to  investigate. 

In  the  catalogue  of  our  author's  works,  the  Theory  of  Moral 
Sentiments  ranks  next  to  the  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  and  Causes 
of  the  Wealth  of  Nations.  On  what  is  it  founded  ?  A  general- 
ization from  what  is  termed  sympathy  —  a  principle  than  which 
there  is  perhaps  no  one  more  sensible  to  every  individual,  more 
capable  of  serving  as  a  familiar  bond  of  connexion  between  the 
phenomena  of  the  moral  world,  or  better  fitted  therefore,  for  the 
purposes  of  the  systematic  philosopher  ;  but  than  which,  also, 
there  is,  probably,  no  single  circumstance  in  the  combined  actions 
of  the  mind  and  body,  that  would  appear  to  the  inductive  philoso- 
pher more  deserving  of  being  itself  investigated. 

A  person  enters  for  the  first  time  an  hospital,  and  the  spectacle 
is  presented  to  him  of  an  individual  undergoing  a  severe  operation. 
As  at  each  cut  of  the  knife  he  sees  the  flesh  divided,  the  muscles, 
vessels,  and  nerves  exposed,  the  blood  flowing  from  the  large, 
gaping,  quivering  wound,  and  as  he  hears  the  stifled  groans  of  the 
sufferer,  he  is  conscious  of  a  strange,  tremulous  sensation,  stealing 
rapidly  over  his  frame,  a  cold  dew  stands  on  his  forehead,  his 
features  contract,  he  breathes  with  difficulty,  his  limbs  sink  under 
him  ;  —  in  fact,  he  will  be  found  to  be  in  the  very  same  state  with' 
the  person  operated  on,  in  all  respects,  but  that  he  feels  not  the 
acuteness  of  torturing  pain,  and  is  not  subject  to  the  quickening 
reaction  produced  by  it.  The  vital  powers  therefore  very  possi- 
bly yield  for  a  little,  he  faints,  is  carried  out  to  the  fresh  air,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  walks  off"  astonished  at  the  strangeness  of  the 
occurrence.  When  he  reaches  his  home,  he  learns  that  an  inti- 
mate friend  has  suffered  a  great  calamity,  and  the  intelligence 
deeply  afflicts  him.  In  both  cases  he  suffers,  or  sympathizes,, 
with  another  person.  But  are  the  two  precisely  alike  ?  are  we 
warranted  to  assume,  with  Adam  Smith,  that  the  laws  governing 
them  are  the  same  ?  and  is  there  not  a  singular  blending  in  both 
of  mental  and  corporeal  phenomena,  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
actions  and  reactions  of  which  are  deserving  of  the  minutest  in- 
vestigation from  one,  who  would  set  about  an  inductive  inquiry 
into  the  principles  of  our  compound  nature  ? 

The  picture,  which,  adopting  tlie  common  notion  of  sympathy 
as  the  point  of  view,  he  has  given  of  the  phenomena  of  the  moral 
world,  is  exceedingly  interesting  and  comprehensive,  and  as  a  sys- 


336  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

tern  regularly  arranging  a  vast  mass  of  facts,  is  very  valuable. 
Here,  however,  its  merits  cease.  No  one,  I  apprehend,  will  now 
cite  it,  as  truly  developing  the  nature  of  our  intellectual  being, 
as  an  addition  to  the  science  of  mind.* 

Similar  observations  will  apply  to  his  fragments  on  the  imita- 
tive arts.  He  adopts  in  them  the  hypothesis  that  the  pleasure 
they  give  arises  from  some  difficulty  in  the  execution  being  over- 
come, and  it  seems  to  have  been  his  intention  to  build  up  a 
whole  system  of  art  on  this  principle.  Perhaps  no  circumstance 
can  be  found,  running  more  through  all  the  arts,  and,  therefore, 
better  fitted  for  the  connecting  purposes  of  the  system-builder, 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  more  curious  in  itself,  and  wdiich,  there- 
fore, the  inductive  philosopher  would  be  more  inclined  to  inquire 
into.  How  is  it,  that  the  images  of  the  poet  come  upon  us  with 
most  force,  when  he  puts  his  words  into  measured  cadence  ? 
How  is  it  that  an  ideal  form,  if  struck  out  of  marble,  affects  us 
so  much  more  than  if  moulded  in  wax  ?  Is  it  that  the  spirit, 
when  fully  roused,  and  striving  to  embody  some  great  sentiment, 
or  strong  emotion,  naturally  seizes  on  the  materials  which  may 
best  betoken  energy,  and  thus  contrives  to  give  an  additional  air 
of  intellectuality  to  mere  matter?  —  This  or  a  series  of  such 
questions  present  themselves  to  the  inductive  inquirer.  What 
to  the  systematic  philosopher  affords  the  means  of  explaining 
other  things,  is  to  him  the  subject  itself  of  inquiry. 

But,  of  all  his  speculations,  there  is  none  in  which  he  seems  to  be 
more  completely  the  philosopher  of  system  and  explanation  than 
in  the  Wealth  of  Nations.  It  is  a  system  entirely  founded  on  the 
most  common  and  familiar  notions,  and  proceeds  altogether  on 
the  generalization  of  them.  Value,  riches,  stock,  capital,  wealth, 
jprojit,  self-interest,  the  desire  of  bettering  one's  condition,  are 
evidently  of  this  sort.  They  are  manifestly  terms  of  ill-defined 
import,  referring  to  notions  drawn  hastily,  and  confusedly,  from 
the  course  of  passing  events ;  "  notiones  confusae,  et  temere  a 
rebus  abslractae."  And  the  strain  of  his  reasoning  upon  them  is 
that  proper  to  the  philosophy  of  system,  which,  taking  from 
experience  the  most  common  and  familiar  observations,  applies 
itself  not  to  inquire  into  them,  but  to  form  a  theory  out  of  them. 
"  Rationale  enim  genus  philosophantium  ex  experientia  arripiunt 

*  See  the  account  given  of  it  by  his  admirer  and  disciple,  Sir  James  Mac- 
intosh, in  his  Ethical  Systems. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  337 

varia  et  vulgarla,  eaque  neque  certo  comperta,  nee  cliligenter 
examinata  et  pensitata ;  reliqua  meditatione,  atque  ingenii  agi- 
tatione  ponunt."  If  we,  therefore,  view  his  work  as  an  attempt 
to  establish  the  science  of  wealth,  on  the  principles  of  the  experi- 
mental or  inductive  philosophy,  it  is  exposed  to  the  censure  of 
transgressing  every  rule  of  that  philosophy. 

"  Men  are  inclined  to  think  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  inquire 
into  the  causes  of  events  that  are  common  and  happen  every 
day,  but,  taking  them  for  things  too  evident  and  manifest  to 
require  explanation,  assume  them  as  causes  sufficiently  account- 
ing for  phenomena,  that  are  not  of  so  frequent  and  familiar  occur- 
rence. Whereas,  in  reality,  no  judgment  can  be  formed  of  events 
which  are  rare  and  remarkable,  nor  can  any  thing  new  be  brought 
to  light,  without  an  accurate  investigation  of  the  causes,  and 
even  the  causes  of  the  causes  of  things,  that  are  the  most  com- 
mon and  familiar."  * 

The  reason  of  this  will  be  evident,  by  referring  to  the  example 
before  adduced.  If  a  man,  as  in  the  case  of  the  savage,  who  is 
totally  unacquainted  with  the  system  of  things  but  as  they  pre- 
sent themselves  to  the  eye  of  the  practical  observer,  be  asked 
why  a  stone  falls  to  the  ground,  he  would  answer,  "  it  is  its 
nature,  all  heavy  bodies  fall  to  the  ground."  "  Why  does  smoke 
ascend?"  "It  is  its  nature,  all  light  bodies  mount  upwards." 
"Why,  when  a  stone  is  seen  flying  through  the  air,  do  you  look 

*  Atque  de  istis  rebus,  quiB  videntur  vulgatce,  illud  homines  cogitent ; 
solera  sane  eos  adhuc  nihil  aliud  agere,  quam  ut  eoriim,  quae  rara  sunt, 
causas  ad  ea,  quoe  frequenter  fiunt,  refcrant  et  accommodent :  at  ipsorum, 
qu«  frequentur  evenuint,  causas  nullas  inquirant,  sed  ea  ipsa  recipiant  tan  quam 
concessa  et  admissa. 

Itaque  non  ponderis,  non  rotationis  ceslestiiirn,  non  caloris  non  frigoris 
non  luminis,  non  duri  non  mollis,  non  tenuis,  non  densi,  non  liquidi,  non 
consistentis,  non  animati,  non  inanamiti,  non  similaris,  non  dissimilaris, 
nee  demum  org  a  nici  causas  quaerunt;  sed  illis  tanquam  pro  evidcntibus  et 
manifestis  receplis,  de  cteteris  rebus,  quae  non  tani  frequenter  et  familiariter 
occurrunt,  disputant  et  judieant. 

Nos  vero,  qui  satis  scimus  nullum  de  rebus  raris  aut  notabilibus  judicium 
fieri  posse, ,  multo  minus  res  novas  in  lucern  protrahi.  absque  vulgariuni 
rerum  causis  et  causarnm  causis  rite  examinatis  et  repertis ;  necessario  ad 
res  vulgarissimas  in  historiam  nostram  recipiendas  compcllimur.  Quenetiam 
nil  magis  philosophice  offecisse  deprehendimus,  quam  quod  res,  quse  familiares 
sunt  et  frequenter  occurrunt,  contemplationem  hominum  non  morentur  et 
detineant,  sed  recepiantur  obiter  neque  earum  causae  quteri  soleant :  ut  non 
saepius  requiratur  informatio  de  rebus  ignotis,  quam  attentio  in  notis.  Nov. 
Org.  cxix. 

43 


338  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

about  to  find  out  the  reason  of  it?"  "Because  it  is  against  its 
nature,  and  I  know,  therefore,  it  must  have  been  produced  by 
violence — by  some  external  force."  Thus,  too,  among  mere 
practical  observers  of  events,  there  would  come  to  be  the  terms 
gravity,  levity,  natural  and  violent  motion.  Now  all  these  words 
and  phrases,  if  correctly  interpreted,  are  perfectly  correct,  accord- 
inor  to  the  measure  of  the  knowledo;e  of  the  individuals,  and 
assume  nothing  but  what  their  experience  warrants.  When  it  is 
said  that  smoke  ascends  in  consequence  of  its  levity,  or  because 
it  is  the  nature  of  it  and  other  light  bodies  to  ascend,  nothing 
more  is  necessarily  implied  in  the  words  than  that  there  is  some- 
thing,—  what  is  not  known,  —  arising  from  the  general  constitu- 
tion of  things,  from  the  system  of  nature  itself,  causing  that 
ascent,  and  that,  while  this  general  constitution  of  things  remains 
unaltered,  all  such  bodies  will  ascend.  So  it  is  when  it  is  said 
that  it  is  against  the  nature  of  a  stone  to  move  in  any  direction 
but  downwards,  and  that  its  other  motions  must  be  violent.  The 
expressions,  in  strictness,  mean  nothing  more  than  that  unless 
acted  on  by  some  extraneous  cause,  while  the  present  condition 
of  things  lasts,  if  it  move  at  all,  its  motion  will  be  directly  down- 
wards. All  these  are  conclusions  drawn  from  experience,  and 
form  general  rules  of  real  practical  utility.  Science  will  never 
teach  the  savage  to  shape,  to  trim,  or  to  preserve  the  poise  of 
his  canoe,  better  than  observations  similar  to  these  have  already 
taught  him. 

When  now  the  systematic  philosopher  applies  himself  to  ac- 
count for,  and  range  in  regular  order,  the  various  phenomena  refer- 
able to  matter  and  motion,  his  object  being  merely  explanation 
and  arrangement,  he  naturally  sets  out  from  common  and  familiar 
notions,  and  principles  which  no  one  doubts  of,  and  applies  all 
his  powers  to  tracing  out  from  their  operation  some  explanation 
of  the  phenomena  in  question.  "  Reasoning  on  these  familiar 
notions,  from  a  few  particulars,  and  perhaps  some  generally  ad- 
mitted maxims,  he  rises  immediately  to  the  most  general  conclu- 
sions, and  from  their  fixed  and  immutable  truth  judges  all  other 
particulars.  If  some  of  them  seem  contrary  to  his  theory,  he 
employs  his  ingenuity  to  explain  them  away,  or  to  make  them 
appear  coincident,  or  removes  the  difficulty  by  terming  them 
exceptions  ;  while  such  particulars  as  are  not  opposed  to  his 
principles,  are  laboriously  and  artfully  arranged,  according  to  his 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  339 

system."*     Omitting,  for  the  present,  the  consideration  of  what 
he  actually  accomplishes,  let  us  attend  to  that  wherein  he  fails. 

The  familiar  notions  of  the  common  observer  become  his  con- 
necting media,  and  he  pretends  to  account  for  the  whole  phe- 
nomena of  matter  and  motion,  on  the  principles,  as  he  calls  them, 
.of gravity,  levity,  natural  and  violent  motion.  JNow  it  is  obvi- 
ous that,  by  this  application  of  the  terms,  he  completely,  though 
imperceptibly,  changes  their  meaning.  As  employed  by  the 
man  of  practical  observation,  though  perhaps  somewhat  confusedly 
conceived,  they  necessarily  and  really  mean  nothing  more,  than 
certain  known  consequences,  the  results  of  some  unknown  laws 
or  powers  regulating  the  system  of  things.  As  employed  by 
the  systematic  philosopher,  they,  on  the  contrary,  are  assumed 
to  be  the  very  laws,  powers,  or  principles,  themselves  governing 
and  sustaining  the  mundane  system.  The  change  in  signification 
is  not  perceived,  for  the  generality  of  mankind  are  incapable  of 
any  thing  like  metaphysical  accuracy  of  conception,  and  are  led 
away  very  easily  by  the  fallacies  of  language.  Its  consequences, 
however,  are  important,  for  if  we  understand  by  science  the 
knowledge  of  the  real  laws  of  nature,  —  the  laws  governing  the 
general  system,  —  this  assumption  completely  diverts  from  their 
discovery,  for  it  induces  the  belief  that  they  are  already  reached. 
It  seems  to  be  on  this  account,  that  Lord  Bacon  so  often  points 
out  the  errors  arising  from  the  hasty  adoption  of  preconceived 
notions,  "anticipationes,"  the  greater  part  of  the  first  book  of  the 
"  Novum  Organum  "  consisting,  in  fact,  of  an  exposition  of 
them.f     Acuteness  of  reasoning,  and  reach  of  thought  are  thus, 

*  Formam  enim  inquirendi  et  inveniendi  apud  antiquos  et  ipsi  profitentur, 
et  scripta  eorum  pree  se  ferunt.  Ea  autem  non  alia  fuit,  quam  ul  ab  exemplis 
quibusdam  et  particularibus  (additis  notionibus  communibus,  et  fortasse  por- 
tione  nonnuUa  ex  opinionibus  receplis,  quae  maxime  placuerunl)  ad  conclu- 
siones  maxime  generalia  sive  principia  scientianim,  advolarent;  ad  quorum 
veritatcm  immotam  et  fixam,  conclusiones  iuferiores  per  media  educerent 
ac  probarent,  ex  quibus  artem  constituebant.  Turn  demum  si  nova  particularia 
et  exempla  mota  essent  et  adducta,  quse  placitis  suis  refragarentur ;  ilia  aut 
per  distinctiones,  aut  per  regularum  suaruin  explanationcs,  in  ordinem  sub- 
tiliter  redegebant ;  aut  demum  per  exceptiones  grosso  modo  summovebant. 
At  rerum  particularium  non  refragrantium  causas,  ad  ilia  principia  sua 
laboriose  et  pertinaciter  accommodabant.  Verura  nee  historia  naturalis  et 
experientia  ilia  erat,  quam  fuisse  oportebat  (longe  certe  abest })  et  ista  advo- 
latia  ad  generalissima,  omnia  perdidit.     Nov.  Org.  L.  I.  cxxv. 

t  "  Non,  si  omnia  omnium  aetatum  ingenia  coierent,  et  labores  contulerint 


340  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

he  observes,  rendered  useless,  for  they  come  too  late.     The 
place  for  them  is  in  examining  and  weighing  experiences,  and 
from  these  deducing  first  principles  *      If  this   be  omitted  no 
subtilty  of  definition,  or  logical  accuracy  of  deduction  can  avail. 
The  remedy  is  too  weak  for  the  evil,  nor  is  itself  void  of  evil. 
The  instrument  employed  is  not  fitted  to  reach  the   depths  of 
nature,  and,  by  catching  after  what  it  cannot  attain  to,  is  rather 
calculated  to  establish  error,  than  to  open  up  the  road  to  truth. 
The  definitions  may  indeed  sufficiently  mark  the  sense,  and  from 
these   definitions  the  conclusions  insisted  on  may  be  logically 
deduced,  nevertheless  there  is  this  of  deceit  in  the  procedure, 
that  the  notions  themselves  may  be  taken  up  hastily,  and  care- 
lessly from  common  observation,  and  may,  therefore,  be  confused, 
and  loose,  and  afford  no  solid  foundation  for  the  edifice  which  it 
is  attempted  to  rear."  j     Such  was  the  system  of  physics  which 
the  Greeks  raised  from  these  principles.     Being  built  on  com- 
mon and  familiar  notions  ;  a  conversion  of  general  practical  rules 
into  speculative  general  principles,  whatever  its  merits  were  as  a 
system,    explaining    according  to   popular   notions,  the   various 
phenomena  of  nature,  and  ranging  these  in  regular  order,  it  had 
no  pretensions   to  merit  as   expository  of  the  real  science  of 
nature. 

It  was  not  until  attention  was  directed  to  the  examination  of 
things  before  supposed  to  be  known,  —  motion,  natural  and  vio- 
lent, gravity,  levity,  &ic. — and  inquiry  made  into  the  principles 
by  which  tliey  themselves  are  regulated,  the  laws,  that  is  to  say, 
according  to  which  the  phenomena,  so  denominated,  are  produced, 
that  a  beginning  was  given  to  real  science.     Then  the  laws  regu- 

et  transmiserint,  progressus  magnus  fieri  poterit  in  scientiis  per  anticipa- 
tiones :  quia  errores  radicales,  et  in  prima  digestionc  mentis  ab  excellentia 
functiorum  el  remediorura  seqiientium  non  curantur."      Nov.  Org.  Lib.  I. 

XXX. 

*  Ibid.  c.  xxi. 

t  "  Verum  infirraior  omnino  est  nialo  medicina ;  {Ars  dialectka  scilicet) 
neo  ipsa  mali  expers  —  naturajenim  subtllitatem  longo  intervallo  non  attingit ; 
et  prensiindo  quod  non  capit,  ad  errores  potius  stabiliendos,  et  quasi  figendos, 
quam  ad  viam  veritati  aperiendam  valuit  —  hoc  subest  fraudis,  quod  syllogis- 
mus  ex  propositionibus  constet,  propositiones  ex  verbis,  verba  autem  notionum 
tesseras  et  signa  sint.  Itaque  si  notiones  ipste  mentis  (quae  verborum  quasi 
anima  sunt,  et  totius  hujusmodi  structurte  ac  fabricas  basis)  male  ac  temere 
a  rebus  abstractae,  et  vaga-,  nee  satis  definlta;  et  circumscriptos,  denique  multis 
modis  vitiosa?  fuerint,  omnia  ruunt."     Nov.  Org.  Praf. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  34] 

lating  the  universal  system  were  gradually  unfolded,  and  things 
seemingly  forever  hidden  in  the  depths  of  the  immensity  of  space 
and  time,  brought  clearly  before  the  intellectual  ken  of  man. 

As  in  the  system  of  things  making  up  the  world  of  mere 
matter,  certain  terms  are  employed  to  denote  general  facts  and 
rules,  which  experience  has  taught,  so,  in  the  compound  system 
of  men  and  things  making  up  the  world  of  civilized  life,  certain 
other  terms  are  employed  to  denote  the  general  facts  and  rules, 
which  experience  also  has  there  taught ;  and  as  in  a  department 
of  the  one,  we  have  heaviness,  lightness,  natural,  and  violent 
motion,  fee. ;  so  in  a  department  of  the  other  we  have  capital, 
value,  profit,  a  due  regard  to  self-interest,  &;c. ;  in  both,  too,  it 
is  to  be  observed,  such  popular  and  familiar  phrases  and  notions, 
correctly  interpreted,  express,  not  the  general  laws  of  the  system, 
but  the  usual  and  expected  results  of  those  laws. 

Thus,  if,  in  any  particular  society,  one  were  to  be  asked,  what 
the  capital  of  some  other  person  were,  he  might  answer,  "  about 
a  thousand  pounds."     If  farther  requested  to  state  his  reasons  for 
saying  so,  he  might  reply,  "  the  property  he   holds  would  fetch 
that  in  the  market,  he  has  been  offered  that  for  it,"  or,  "  I  know 
it  cost  him  that,  and  that  he  laid  out  his  money  judiciously." 
These  are  all  the  answers  he  would  think  of  giving  ;  for  common 
purposes  they  are  all  he  requires  to  give,   and  they  are  all  that 
his  notions  actually  embrace.     If  asked  again,  "  what  revenue 
does  this  person  derive  from  his  capital  ?  "  he  might  answer,  "  I 
suppose   about  that  which  such  a  capital   generally  yields,  the 
usual  profits  of  stock — a  fair,  reasonable,  mercantile  profit,  neither 
much  above  or  below  par."     If  questioned  farther,   as  to   the 
nature  of  this  capital,  and  its  return,  which  he  terms  profit,  he 
would   answer,  if  simply  a  practical  observer,    "  Really  as  to 
this  I  have  never  inquired,  I  know  that  where  I  have  lived,  and 
I  believe  in  all  civilized  societies,  certain  things,  if  sold,  have  cer- 
tain values,  bring  certain  sums  of  money,  and  if  kept  and  judi- 
ciously employed,  yield  certain  amounts  of  money,  or  moneys' 
worth.     Why  they  do  so,  though  it  must  arise,  no  doubt,  from 
the  circumstances  and  actions  and  reactions  on  each  other  of  the 
various   things  and  persons  forming  these  societies,  I  have  not 
examined  into,  and  do  not   pretend  to  know."     His  answer,  in 
short,  would  be  that  he  knows  them  only  as  results  of  the  laws 
governing  the  general  system  of  which  he  makes  a  part. 


342  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

By  taking,  therefore,  these,  and  such  like  common  and  fami- 
liar notions,  as  the  foundation  of  his  reasoning,  Adam  Smith  made 
his  work  an  explanatory  system,  not  an  inductive  inquiry.  The 
principles  of  the  inductive  philosophy  would  have  led  him  to 
inquire  into  the  nature  of  those  familiar  notions, —  into  the  laws 
or  causes  of  those  common  occurrences  ;  and  he  would  have  set 
out  with  the  question.  What  is  it,  in  the  nature  of  man  and  matter, 
that  makes  any  thing  constitute  a  capital,  or  yield  a  profit?  In 
the  words  of  the  Novum  Organum,  already  cited,  he  would  have 
considered,  "that  no  judgment  can  ever  be  formed  of  things  that 
are  rare  and  remarkable,  much  less  can  any  thing  new  be  brought 
to  light,  unless  the  causes,  and  even  the  causes  of  the  causes,  of 
occurrences  the  most  common  and  familiar,  be  rigidly  examined 
and  clearly  discovered." 

It  is,  therefore,  an  abuse  of  words  to  say,  that  the  publication 
of  the  Inquiry  into  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  rendered  political 
economy  a  science  of  experience.*  It  made  it  so  in  no  other 
manner  than  as  every  philosophical  system  is,  of  necessity.  They 
are  all,  of  necessity,  founded  on  some  observations,  the  fruits  of 
experience.!  The  difference  between  them  is,  that  those  obser- 
vations which  men  make  concerning  the  general  results  of  the 
laws  of  the  universe,  and  to  which  convenience  leads  them  to 
give  names,  are  assumed  by  the  systematic  philosopher  for  the 
laws  themselves,  and  that  the  scientific  inquirer  examines  them 
patiently,  and  perseveringly,  and  ascending  gradually,  from  one 
thing  to  another,  endeavors  thus  at  last  to  reach  the  real  laws  of 
nature.  While  the  one  assumes  phenomena  for  principles,  the 
other  applies  to  the  things  giving  rise  to  those  phenomena,  and 
collecting,  comparing,  and  arranging  these,  traces  out  the  real 
connexions  between  them,  the  real  principles  governing  nature. 


«  u 


Unc  science  experimentale,"  Say.  See  note  on  Storch,  p.  24,  vol.  1. 
of  the  "  Cours  d'Econome  Politique,"  where  he  declares  it  to  be  precisely 
similar  to  modern  mechanical  science,  ''  la  mecanique  analytique."  The 
comparison  should  have  been,  as  we  have  seen,  with  the  ancient  mechanical 
philosophy. 

t  "  Neque  illud  quenquam  moveat,  quod  in  libri^  ejus  (Aristolelis)  de  ani- 
malibus,  et  in  probleinatibus,  et  in  aliis  suis  tractatibus,  versatio  f'requens  sit 
in  experimentis.  Ille  enim  prius  decreverat,  neque  experientiam  ad  consti- 
tuenda  decreta  et  axiomata  rite  consuluit ;  sod  postquam  pro  arbitrio  suo  de- 
crevissit,  experientiam  ad  sua  placita  tortam  circumducit,  et  captivam;  ut 
hoc  etiam  nomine  magis  accusandus  sit,  quam  sectatores  ejus  moderni  (scho- 
lasticorum  philosophorum  genus)  qui  experientiam  omnino  deseruerunt." 
Nov.  Org.  ib.  L.  I.  Ixiii. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  343 

We  may  easily  satisfy  ourselves  of  the  difference  of  the  prin- 
ciples which  true  science  reaches,  and  those  employed  in  the 
Wealth  of  Nations,  by  taking  any  of  the  latter  and  seeing  how 
it  agrees  with  the  rules  by  which  the  former  may  be  tested. 
Thus  the  principle,  that  self-interest  is  the  great  and  all-sufficient 
cause  of  the  increase  of  wealth,  both  private  and  public,  is  evi- 
dently nothing  else  than  an  application  of  the  common  assumption 
that  a  man's  fortune  and  his  interest  are  the  same,  and  a  generali- 
zation of  the  observation  that  he,  therefore,  who  understands  his 
interest  best  and  takes  best  care  of  it,  will  get  rich  the  fastest. 
But  if  self-interest  be,  in  the  scientific  sense,  the  cause  of  wealth, 
both  public  and  private,*  (the  law  according  to  which  it  either  is, 
or  is  not  produced,)  whenever  self-interest,  (the  desire  of  bettering 
one's  condition)  manifests  itself  in  action,  it  must  tend  to  the 
increase  of  public  wealth. f 

Do  the  labors  of  the  cool,  calculating,  gambler,  or  of  the 
sharper,  add  to  public  wealth  ?  Does  the  spirit  of  keen  bargain- 
ing, and  taking  every  possible  advantage  of  those  with  whom 
transfers  are  effected,  that  sometimes  pervade  classes,  and  com- 
munities, add  to  public  wealth  ?  Assuredly  not ;  yet  in  all  these 
self-interest  is  the  ruling  motive  of  action.  Let  it  not  be  said, 
that  these  are  exceptions  to  a  general  rule.  Though  there  may 
be  exceptions  to  general  rules,  there  are  no  exceptions  to  scien- 
tific principles.  "  Wherever  a  scientific  cause,  or  law,  or  princi- 
ple operates,  there  the  thing  itself,  of  which  it  is  said  to  be  the 
cause,  is  necessarily  produced.  And  it  may  be  universally 
affirmed  that,  where  this  the  form  is,  there  the  thing  sought  is 
also,  and  where  it  is  not,  there  the  thing  cannot  be. J  Nothing 
is  to  be  received  for  the  true  scientific  cause,  unless  the  thing  of 
which  it  is  the  cause,  increases   and  decreases   along  with  it.<§> 

*  Desir  de  1'  homme  d'  ameliorerson  sort :  principe  qui  est  au  monde  moral, 
ce  que  la  gravitation  est  au  monde  phisique.     Storch. 

t  It  will  be  observed  that  1  here,  and  throughout,  speak  of  self-interest  in 
the  common  and  familiar  sense.  The  author  of  the  Theory  of  Moral  Senti- 
ments was  not  an  utilitarian.  If  the  reader  happen  to  be  so,  he  will  perceive 
that  the  argument  is  not  altered,  the  names  only  have  to  be  so. 

+  Etenim  forma  naturse  alicujus  talis  est,  ut  ea  posita,  uatura  data  infallibi- 
liter  sequatur.  Itaque  adest  purpetud,  quando  natura  ilia  adest,  atque  earn 
universaliter  affirmat,  atque  inest  omni.  Eadem  forma  talis  est,  ut  ea  amota, 
natura  data  infallibiliter  fugiat.  Itaque  abest  perpetuo,  quando  natura  ilia 
abest,  earn  que  pertuo  abnegat,  atque  inest  soli.     Nov.  Org.  Lib  II.  iv. 

§  Omnino  sequetur  ut  non  recipiatur  alique  natura  pro  vera  forma,  nisi  per- 


344  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

This  difference,  indeed,  between  common  practical  observa- 
tions and  rules,  and  general  scientific  principles  must  always  exist, 
for  it  springs  from  the  different  nature  of  the  one  and  the  other. 
The  observations  which  the  man  of  practice  makes,  as  has  been 
already  remarked,  are  on  phenomena,  the  results  of  the  play  of 
real  principles,  and  as  these  principles  may  vary  in  their  propor- 
tions to  each  other,  and  in  the  modes  in  which  their  powers  are 
exerted,  the  results  produced  by  their  action  must  occasionally 
vary.  The  principles  themselves,  however,  never  vary ;  and, 
therefore,  one  observ^ation  or  experiment  concerning  a  real  prin- 
ciple, if  there  be  no  inaccuracy  in  it,  has  always  in  science  been 
esteemed  as  good  as  a  thousand.  The  whole  inductive  philoso- 
phy may,  indeed,  be  said  to  rest  on  the  impossibility  of  the 
occurrence  of  exceptions  to  real  laws.  Hence  the  extensive  use 
of  negative  instances,  determining,  at  last,  what  is  a  principle 
by  pointing  out  what  it  is  not. 

Again ;  it  is  far  from  being  the  case,  that  a  regard  for  self- 
interest,  a  desire  of  bettering  one's  condition,  prompts  always  to  a 
course  of  action  leading  to  an  increase  of  even  private  fortune. 
This  must  depend  on  what  is  esteemed  the  best  condition,  —  on 
what  one's  happiness  rests. f  Hence  what  has  been  regarded  as 
the  most  enlightened  self-interest,  has  often  led,  as  we  have  seen, 
to  a  course  of  action  the  very  reverse.  The  Romans,  under  the 
emperors,  were  assuredly  as  earnest  in  their  quest  after  happi- 
ness, as  were  ever  any  race,  yet  their  manners,  and  their  whole 
practical  morality  tended  to  the  diminution  of  wealth  previously 
accumulated,  and  they  swallowed  up,  in  extravagant  dissipation, 
the  riches  of  kingdoms.  Nor  let  it  be  here  answered,  that  facts 
applicable  to  the  Romans,  or  other  people  of  habits  and  modes 
of  thinking  and  acting  unlike  those  characterizing  the  civilized 
world  of  modern  days,  cannot  be  fairly  adduced  in  investigations 
concerning  existing  systems  of  society.  This  is  indeed  true,  if 
the  reasonings  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations  be  admitted  to  be  of  the 
systematic  and  explanatory  cast,  but  not  if  that  work  he  main- 
tained to  be  an  inductive  inquiry.  These  remote  and  hetero- 
geneous instances,  are  the  very  ones  which  experimental  science 

petuo  decrescat  quando  natura  ipsa  descrescit,  et  similiter  perpetuo  augeatur 
quando  natura  ipsa  augctur.     Nov.  Org.  Lib.  II.  xiii. 

t  Le  desir  d'ameliorer  son  sort  —  le  d66ir  d'etre  heureux.     Storch,  vol.  I. 
p.  44,  4.5. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  345 

most  prizes,*  and  this,  for  the  reason  just  adduced,  that  real  prin- 
ciples being  constant  in  their  action,  what  are,  and  what  are  not 
the  principles  inquired  after,  are  thus  tested.f 

III.  The  actual  history  of  what  is  termed  the  science  of  politi- 
cal economy,  is  another  mode  of  ascertaining  the  justice  of  its 
pretensions  to  that  appellation.  By  comparing  it  with  the 
generic  character  of  the  history  of  philosophical  sects  of  the  ex- 
planatory and  systematic  form,  given  by  the  founder  of  the  induc- 
tive philosophy,  as  contrasted  with  what  he  pointed  out  was  to 
be  expected  from  that  philosophy,  and  time  has  shown  it  has 
accomplished,  we  might  have  farther  grounds  to  come  to  a  con- 
clusion on  the  question.  To  do  this  at  length,  however,  would 
lead  us  too  far  beyond  limits,  which  I  have  already  exceeded.  I 
shall,  therefore,  confine  the  few  farther  observations  I  have  to 
make,  to  one  circumstance,  which  Lord  Bacon  gives  as  charac- 
teristic of  the  two  sects.  In  his  figurative  language  "  the  path 
which  the  inductive  philosophy  takes,  is  at  first  steep  and  diffi- 
cult, but  leads  to  an  open  country,  while  that  adopted  by 
the  explanatory  and  systematic,  though  at  first  easy  and  invit- 
ing,  is  at  last  lost  in   deserts  or  conducts  to  precipices."  J 

The  doubts  and  difficulties  in  which  the  progress  of  those  has 
been  involved,  who  have  advanced  farthest  along  the  apparently 
safe  and  easy  road  that  Adam  Smith  seemed  to  have  opened  up, 
indicate  it  not  to  be  the  path  of  science.  Of  these  I  shall  adduce 
a  few  instances. 

Capital  is  uniformly  treated  of  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  as  a 
thing  homogeneous  in  its  nature,  having  always  the  same  quali- 
ties, (according  to  the  definition  of  Mr.  Say,  an  amount  of  values,) 
and  any  increase  or  diminution  of  it,  as  a  mere  alteration  in 
quantity.  This  being  taken  to  be  the  case,  as  like  causes  pro- 
duce like  effects,  it  seems  very  evidently  to  follow,  that  the  only 
manner  in  which  a  change  can  be  produced  in  the  returns  yielded 
by  it,  must  be  by  the  labor  that  it  employs,  absorbing  a  larger  or 
smaller  part  of  them.     This  result  is  not  uniformly  kept  in  view 

*  Nemo  enim  rei  alicujus  naturam  inipsare,recte  aut  feliciter  perscrutatur. 
Nov.  Org.  Prffif. 

Instantias  romotas  et  helerogeneas,  per  quas  axiomata,  tanquam  igiie  pro- 
bantur.      Ibid,  Lib.  I.  xlvii. 

i  Note  K. 

t  —  "  Via  altera  ab  initio  ardua  et  difRcilis,  desinet  in  apertum  ;  altera  primo 
intuitu  expedita  et  proclivis,  ducat  in  avia  et  prfficipitia." 

44 


346  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

in  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  though  it  is  very  frequently  brought 
forward.     We  are  often  told,   that,  as  the   wages  of  labor  fall? 
profits  rise,  and  as   profits  fall  the  wages  of  labor  rise,  but  other 
causes  besides  the  proportion  of  Its  returns  paid  to  the  laborer,  are 
conceived  to  operate  on  it.     Thus  a  simple  increase  in  its  quantity 
is  assigned,  in  one  part  of  the  work,  as  sufficient  of  itself  to  occa- 
sion a  fall  in  profits.     "  When  the  stocks  of  many  rich  merchants 
are  turned  into  the  same  trade,  their  mutual  competition  naturally 
tends  to  lower  its  profit ;  and  when  there  is  a  like  increase  of 
stock  in  all  the  different  trades  carried  on  in  the  same  society, 
the  same  competition  must  produce  the  same  effect  in  all."     Mr. 
Ricardo  has,  however,  pointed  out,  from  Adam  Smith's  own  prin- 
ciples, that  no  such   effect  would  ensue,  and   insists  on  it  as  a 
general  principle  that  wages  alone  vary  profit.     Profits,  according 
to  him,  are  increased  or  diminished,  exactly  as  the  maintenance  of 
labor  is  easy  or  difficult,  from   fertile   land  being  abundant  or 
scarce.     Admitting  the  popular  notion  of  capital,  that  serves  as 
the  basis  of  Adam  Smith's  reasonings,  to  be  of  a  sort  on  which 
true  science  may  be  built,   the  theory  of  Mr.  Ricardo  seems  to 
me  hard  to  be  controverted,  and  has  certainly  the  merit  of  giving 
uniformity  and  regularity  to  llie  system.     It  has  accordingly  been 
acquiesced  in  very  generally  in  Britain,  by   men  who  are  given 
to  this  department  of  inquiry,  and  has  been  adopted  and  defended 
by  many  writers  of  unquestioned  ability.     Nevertheless,  it  may 
well  be  doubted,  if  it  has  added  to  the  general  confidence  in  the 
science.     The  conclusions  to  which  it  leads  have  in  them  some- 
thing so  extraordinary,  as  to  exceed  the  strength  of  any  common 
measure  of  faith  in  such  abstractions. 

Thus,  according  to  the  principles  of  this  school,  no  extension 
of  foreign  trade,  however  advantageous,  and  no  improvement  in 
domestic  industry,  however  great,  can,  in  the  least,  increase  pro- 
fits. On  the  other  hand,  no  diminution  of  foreign  trade  can,  of 
itself,  lessen  profits.  It  follows  also,  from  the  same  principles, 
that  colonies  give  no  commercial  advantages  to  the  mother 
country,  and,  therefore,  that  being  in  general  expensive,  they 
ought  to  be  shaken  off  as  a  burden  on  her  resources.  Sir  Henry 
Parnell  observes,  and  quotes  Mr.  Mills  In  his  support,  that, 
"The  capital  which  supplies  commodities  for  the  colonies  would 
still  prepare  commodities  if  the  colonies  ceased  to  purchase  them ; 
and  those  commodities  would  find  consumers,  for  every  country 
contains  within  itself  a  market  for  all  it  can  produce.     There  is, 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  347 

therefore,  no  advantage  derived  under  freedom  of  competition, 
from  that  part  of  the  trade  with  a  colony,  which  consists  in  sup- 
plying it  with  goods,  since  no  more  is  gained  by  it  than  such 
ordinary  profits  of  stock  as  would  be  gained  if  no  such  trade 
existed." 

These,  and  similar  doctrines,  have  something  in  thera  so 
strange,  so  contrary  to  experience,  and  seem  so  paradoxical,  that 
they  have  in  most  people  rather  the  effect  of  exciting  surprise, 
than  producing  belief.  They  are  exceeded,  however,  by  what 
a  writer  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  has  proved,  and  in  my  opinion 
satisfactorily  proved,  from  the  principles  of  his  school,  concern- 
ing the  effect  of  Irish  absenteeism.  He  shows  that  it  can  have 
no  disadvantageous,  and  possibly  may  have  an  advantageous 
efTect,  that  it  can  only  cause  capital  to  pass  from  one  employ- 
ment to  another,  possibly  from  a  less,  to  a  more  advantageous 
employment.  That,  as  it  is  the  capital  of  the  artisan,  the  trades- 
man, and  shop-keeper,  that  yields  them  their  revenue,  were  all 
their  customers  annihilated,  they  would  still  live  equally  well  on 
their  capitals.  That  so,  were  all  the  landlords  in  Ireland  to 
leave  it,  and  were  their  rents  to  be  sent  them,  to  a  distant  king- 
dom, in  the  shape  either  of  cash  or  agricultural  produce,  it  could 
not  possibly  be  of  any  detriment  to  the  country  they  abandoned. 

Though  the  argument  is  skilfully  conducted,  and  though  it  is 
in  perfect  accordance  with  the  leading  principles  of  the  science  — • 
for,  if  capitalists  are  dependent  on  their  customers,  what  becomes 
of  the  all-sufficiency  of  capital?  —  and,  if  the  British  government 
could  advantage  Ireland  by  taxing  absentees,  what  becomes  of 
the  principle  of  non-interference?  —  yet  there  are  perhaps  few 
people,  on  whom  it  has  had  the  effect  the  author  probably 
desired.  It  has  the  disadvantage  of  proving  too  much.  When  it 
is  shown,  that,  according  to  received  principles,  two  large  classes 
so  intimately  dependent  on  each  other,  as  are  the  landlords  of  a 
great  country,  and  the  mechanics  and  capitalists  that  they  em- 
ploy, can  be  completely  severed,  without  injuriously  affecting 
the  whole  system  of  things  in  the  society,  we  are  rather  inclined 
to  doubt  of  the  principles,  than  to  acquiesce  in  the  conclusion. 
However  skilfully  the  argument  may  be  urged,  or  however 
closely  one  part  of  it  may  seem  joined  to  another,  it  has  rather 
the  effect  of  inducing  skepticism  than  conviction.  We  siill  figure 
to  ourselves  that  there  is  a  loss  to  Ireland,  a  gain  to  some  other 


348  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

place.  We  cannot  get  rid  of  the  imagination,  that,  if  the  land- 
lords were  all  to  go  in  a  body,  for  instance,  to  Brussels,  and 
spend  their  rents  there,  they  would  give  profitable  employment, 
in  some  way  or  other,  to  a  vast  number  of  laborers,  tradesmen, 
and  artificers,  and  that  the  population  and  wealth  of  that  town 
would  be  largely  augmented,  that  of  Ireland  proportionally  dimin- 
ished. 

These,  and  many  such  like  instances,  seem  to  us  contrary  to 
the  usual  progress  of  real  knowledge.  The  experience  of  what 
true  science  is,  has  accustomed  us  to  expect  that  in  this,  as  in 
other  branches  of  inquiry,  the  farther  we  advance  the  larger  and 
larger  a  compass  of  undeniable  facts  should  present  themselves, 
that  we  should  be  able  more  and  more  evidently  to  connect  phe- 
nomena, that  seemed  at  first  disjointed  and  isolated,  and  that, 
the  indistinctness  of  distance  being  removed,  truth  should  stand 
clearly  before  us.  Deceived  in  our  anticipations,  we  feel  like 
travellers  who  find  the  straight  and  well-beaten  path  on  which  they 
entered,  becoming  more  devious  and  faint  the  farther  they  jour- 
ney, leaving  the  habitations  of  men,  and  leading  to  barren  and 
dano-erous  wastes.  Though  we  can  trace  no  error,  we  begin  to 
suspect  that  there  is  one,  and  that  somehow  or  other,  we  have 
taken  the  wrong  direction. 

Dugald  Stewart  has  a  remark  on  the  abstract  philosophy  of 
David  Hume,  that  seems  not  inapplicable  to  this,  so  termed, 
abstract  science.  It  is  well  knowTi,  that  that  skeptical  philoso- 
pher deduced,  pretty  clearly,  frour  Mr.  Lock's  principles,  that 
the  human  mind  was  a  mere  bundle  of  sensations.  The  profes- 
sor observes,  that,  before  any  formal  refutation  of  the  doctrine 
appeared,  it  might  have  been  sufficient  answer  to  it,  that  it  was 
so  contrary  to  the  experience  of  every  one,  as  to  make  it  more 
reasonable  to  suppose  an  error,  either  in  the  premises  or  deduc- 
tion, though  that  error  might  not  be  discoverable,  than  to  believe 
that  the  metaphysicians  were  right,  all  the  rest  of  mankind 
wrong.  Such  an  answer  is,  I  suspect,  that  which  is  now  present 
to  the  minds  of  very  many,  in  regard  to  the  strange  dogmas  of 
the  prevailing  school  of  political  enonomy.  They  regard  them 
as  a  sort  of  practical  demonstratio  ad  absurdum  of  some  funda- 
mental fallacy  in  the  science. 

Reasoning  from   Adam   Smith's   principles,  his  followers,   in 
more  than  one   instance,    have   arrived   at  conclusions  differing 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  349 

considerably  from  his.  He  looked  on  parsimony  as  the  great 
generator  of  wealth  ;  they  rather  hold  an  opinion  similar  to  that 
of  Mandeville,  that  to  consume  largely  is  an  essential  part  of  the 
process,  consumption  and  reproduction  being  represented  by  them 
as  the  two  springs,  by  the  rapid  play  of  which  the  general  pros- 
perity is  advanced.  The  doctrine,  as  it  has  been  maintained, 
has  the  advantage  or  disadvantage  of  being  somewhat  paradoxical ; 
but  omitting  the  consideration  of  this  circumstance,  it  is  worth 
while  to  examine  whether  or  not,  when  applied  to  practice,  it 
has  brought  about  the  anticipated  results.  Of  the  many  instances 
that  might  be  produced  of  events  of  this  class  turning  out  con- 
trary to  the  predictions  of  the  votaries  of  the  science,  I  select  one 
from  the  "  Cours  d'Economie  Politique  "  of  Mr.  Storch,  a  work 
which,  according  to  Mr.  MaccuUoch,  stands  at  the  head  of  all 
those  on  Political  Economy  ever  imported  from  the  continent 
into  England. 

That  author  brings  forward  Ireland,  as  an  example  of  great 
prosperity,  and  very  rapid  progress  in  wealth,  in  consequence  of 
that  nation  following  the  rules  of  the  system.  "  The  sudden  and 
prodigious  increase,"  he  observes,  "  which  took  place  in  the 
consumption  of  spirituous  liquors,  sugar  and  tea,  soon  after  the 
union,  is  the  more  remarkable,  from  its  having  occurred  at  a  time 
when  these  commodities  were  charged  with  additional  duties, 
that  in  any  other  country  would  have  been  equivalent  to  an 
absolute  prohibition. 

"  To  date  from  the  union,  the  consumption  of  wine  has  aug- 
mented by  half;  and  yet  the  consumers,  to  buy  half  more  than 
they  formerly  did,  are  obliged  to  pay  three  times  the  price.  As 
for  rum,  and  other  foreign  spirits,  although  the  duties  have  been 
doubled,  the  consumption  has  increased  eightfold. 

"The  importation  of  tea  has  risen,  since  the  union,  from  2,260,- 
600  pounds  to  3,706,771.  The  amount  of  sugar  purchased  has 
risen  from  211,209  hundred  weight  to  447,404,  so  that  Ireland 
consumes  more  of  that  nourishing,  agreeable,  and  healthy  com- 
modity, than  both  Russia  and  France  conjoined.  In  short,  an 
examination  of  the  table  of  importations  of  Ireland  shows  that, 
with  the  exception  of  a  small  number  of  articles,  the  additional 
consumption  of  those  commodities,  the  production  of  other 
countries,  of  which  the  increasing  demand  most  marks  the  grow- 
ing riches  of  a  people,  has  equalled,  or  rather  surpassed  the 


350  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

whole  consumption  before  the  union.  The  facts  which  we 
have  thus  analyzed,"  he  continues,  "  present  a  statistical  picture 
altogether  sino-ular,  and  such  as  the  most  flourishing  colonies 
have  never  furnished.  It  is  true  that,  by  this  prodigious  increase 
of  importations,  the  purchases  of  the  people  of  Ireland  have  in- 
creased in  a  greater  ratio  than  their  sales ;  but  this  circumstance, 
which  would  spread  alarm  among  most  other  nations,  is  regarded 
in  Great  Britain  as  a  symptom  of  prosperity,  I  know  nothing 
more  calculated  to  show  how  much  those  continental  govern- 
ments are  deceived,  who  see  only  objects  of  alarm  in  observing 
the  increase  of  importations.  '  They  send  the  money  out  of  the 
country ,  they  favor  foreign  industry  at  the  prejudice  of  domestic, 
and  ruin  the  inhabitants  by  exciting  them  to  expenses  beyond 
their  incomes.'  Such  is  the  cry  of  these  alarmists.  Perhaps  I 
return  too  frequently  to  a  consideration  of  such  errors ;  but  they 
are  so  common,  and,  at  the  same  time,  so  injurious,  that  I  think 
it  my  duty  to  neglect  no  opportunity  to  prove  their  fallacy, 
whether  by  arguments  or  by  examples  ;  and  what  more  striking 
example  could  1  oppose  to  this  doctrine  than  that  of  the  pros- 
perity of  the  Irish  V 

Speaking  of  the  probability  of  a  rise  in  the  price  of  colonial 
productions,  he  observes  farther,  "  that  it  may  possibly  diminish 
their  consumption,  but  that  it  is  much  more  likely  that  the  Irish, 
who  have  acquired  a  taste  for  such  enjoyments,  will  work  still 
harder,  and  produce  still  more  linen,  hemp,  and  oats,  that  they 
may  have  plenty  of  sugar  and  rum.  With  a  people  so  ingenious, 
all  that  is  requisite  is  to  give  them  wants,  and  excite  them  to 
labor."  * 

Science  is  said  to  be  prophetic ;  does  this  then  sound  like  her 
voice  ? 

I  shall  conclude  these  remarks,  by  observing,  that  in  my  opinion 
the  disciples  and  followers  of  Adam  Smith,  in  claiming  for  the 
speculations  contained  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  and  for  the 
doctrines  they  have  founded  on  them,  the  rank  of  an  experimental 
science,  the  conclusions  of  which  are  entitled  to  the  same  cre- 
dence with  other  experimental  sciences,  act  injudiciously,  and  by 
insisting  on  pretensions  which  are  unfounded,  injure  the  cause  of 
that  philosopher  and  conceal  his  real  merits.  If  we  view  his 
philosophical  system  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  or  indeed  any  of 

*  Vol.  IV,  p.  266. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  35 1 

his  philosophical  systems,  as  lie  views  every  such  system,  "  as 
an  imaginary  machine  invented  to  connect  together  in  the  fancy 
those  different  movements  and  effects  which  are  already  in  reality 
performed,"  nothing  of  the  sort  can  be  more  beautifid.  A  clear, 
orderly  and  extensive  view  is  given  of  a  vast  number  of  interest- 
ing and  important  facts,  connected  by  a  few  familiar  principles. 
A  great  body  of  knowledge  is  thus  brought  before  the  mind  in  a 
shape  which  it  can  readily  grasp,  and  easily  command.  The 
object  being  not  to  discover,  bat  to  arrange  and  methodize,  all 
the  subordinate  principles  of  the  system  are  artfully  bent  so  as  to 
embrace  the  phenomena,  and  care  is  taken  that  the  imagination 
be  not  shocked  by  a  view  of  matters  that  shall  seem  irreconcila- 
ble to  the  aspect  of  affairs  which  the  contemplation  of  the  world 
of  life  itself  presents.  Nor  is  it  to  be  disputed  that  a  general 
system  of  the  sort,  besides  the  pleasure  and  the  advantage  de- 
rived from  it,  is  likely  to  be  nearer  the  truth  than  speculations  of 
the  same  nature,  confined  to  particular  parts. 

The  case,  however,  is  completely  altered,  when  the  loose  and 
popular  principles  on  which  such  a  system  proceeds,  are  adopted 
as  demonstrative  axioms,  the  discoveries  of  real  science,  and  are 
carried  out  to  their  extreme  consequences.  Their  original  pur- 
pose is  then  altogether  changed,  and  instead  of  serving  to  bring 
before  the  mind  a  collection  of  facts,  they  lead  it  farther  and  far- 
ther away  from  truth  and  reality,  into  the  barren  and  weari- 
some regions  of  mere  verbal  abstractions. 


APPENDIX   TO   BOOK   II. 


Of  the  Principle  of  the  Division  of  Labor. 

Not  having  been  able  without  interrupting  the  course  of  inves- 
tigation, to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  principle  of  the  division 
of  labor,  as  viewed  by  Adam  Smith,  I  have  thought  it  better 
to  place  apart  the  observations  I  have  to  make  on  it. 

In  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  the  division  of  labor  is  considered 
the  great  generator  of  invention  and  improvement,  and  so  of 
the  accumulation  of  capital.  In  the  view  I  have  given  it  is 
represented  as  pi'oceeding  from  the  antecedent  progress  of  inven- 
tion, and  increase  of  stock,  and  as  operating  chiefly  by  quicken- 
ing the  exhaustion  of  instruments,  and  so  placing  them  in  orders 
of  more  speedy  return.  Now  in  reality,  as  far  as  its  origin  is 
concerned,  the  account  of  the  matter  which  we  find  in  the  Wealth 
of  Nations,  is  more  favorable  to  the  latter  supposition,  than  to 
the  former. 

"  In  a  tribe  of  hunters,  or  shepherds,  a  particular  person  makes 
bows  and  arrows,  for  example,  with  more  readiness  and  dexterity 
than  any  other.  He  frequently  exchanges  them  for  cattle  or  for 
venison,  with  his  companions ;  and  he  finds  at  last  that  he  can 
in  this  manner  get  more  cattle  and  venison,  than  if  he  himself 
went  to  the  field  to  catch  them.  From  a  regard  to  his  own 
interest,  therefore,  the  making  of  bows  and  arrows  grows  to  be 
his  chief  business,  and  he  becomes  a  sort  of  armorer.  Another 
excels  in  making  the  frames  and  covers  of  their  little  huts  or 
moveable  houses.  He  is  accustomed  to  be  of  use  in  this  way  to 
his  neighbors,  who  reward  him  in  the  same  manner  with  cattle 
and  with  venison,  till  at  last  he  finds  it  his  interest  to  dedicate 
himself  entirely  to  this  employment,  and  to  become  a  sort  of 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  353 

house  carpenter.  In  the  same  manner  a  third  becomes  a  smith 
or  a  brazier;  a  fourth  a  tanner  or  dresser  of  hides  or  skins,  the 
principal  part  of  the  clothing  of  savages." 

If  this  be  a  true  account  of  matters,  it  is  evident,  that  it  is  the 
antecedent  progress  of  invention,  and  the  existence  of  the  several 
arts  of  the  bow-maker,  the  hunter,  the  carpenter,  the  brazier  that 
is  the  real  cause  of  the  separation  of  the  members  of  the  society 
into  artists  of  different  sorts.  I  rather  think,  however,  that  it  will 
be  found,  that  separate  artists  have  come  to  exist  from  the  passage 
of  individuals  from  one  community  to  another,  and  their  carrying 
with  them  the  arts  proper  to  each.  If,  for  example,  in  any  par- 
ticular tribe,  the  art  of  reducing  from  the  ore  and  working  up 
some  of  the  metals,  were  well  known,  and  were  chance  to  throw 
a  member  of  it  among  another  tribe  ignorant  of  this  art,  he  might 
come  to  employ  himself  altogether  in  the  smelting  and  giving 
form  to  metal,  and  there  might  come  to  be  a  class,  whose  chief 
employment  were  that  of  working  in  metal.  But  it  is  of  little 
consequence  how  the  separation  of  employments  was  brought 
about.  The  real  question  is,  do  the  acknowledged  advantages  of 
it  proceed  directly  from  the  increased  efficiency  of  tlie  labor  of 
the  workman ;  or  from  the  stock  of  instalments  of  the  society 
being  thus  in  much  more  constant  employment,  and  its  being, 
therefore,  in  the  power  of  the  accumulative  principle  to  give 
them  a  much  more  effective  construction. 

The  efficiency  of  the  labor  of  the  workman  may  be  advanced, 
either  by  his  dexterity  being  increased,  or  by  an  improvement 
in  the  construction  of  the  implements  with  which  he  works. 

1.  As  concerns  his  dexterity,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  it  is  chiefly 
in  the  beginning  of  art  that  great  manual  dexterity  is  requisite. 
Then  the  hand  is  the  great  instrument.  The  manual  dexterity 
of  the  savage  in  hurling  his  dart,  or  shooting  with  his  bow  and 
arrow,  in  guiding  his  canoe  by  the  pole  or  paddle,  in  framing  his 
fishing  and  hunting  apparatus  with  the  rude  tools  he  possesses, 
far  exceeds  that  necessary  to  the  civilized  man,  not  only  in  the 
common,  but  even  in  the  more  delicate  arts  of  civilized  life;  and, 
were  we  to  take  into  the  account  things  generally  confounded 
with  manual  dexterity,  quickness  and  accuracy  of  sight,  and 
delicacy  and  flexibility  of  the  other  organs,  the  disparity  between 
the  two  would  be  much  greater.  As  art  advances  from  its  first 
rude  elements,  the  hand  does  less,   the  instrument  more.     To 

45 


354  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK. 

acquire  the  manual  dexterity  necessary  to  guide  a  bark  canoe 
with  rapidity  and  speed,  requires  the  practice  of  years.  To  row 
a  boat  equally  well  might  be  learned  in  a  few  months.  The 
mere  manual  dexterity  necessary  to  move  the  different  pieces  of 
mechanism  that  govern  the  motion  of  a  steam-boat,  might  be 
acquired  in  a  few  days  or  hours. 

It  may  be  remarked,  that  the  examples  of  this  dexterity  ad- 
duced in  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  are  from  arts  where  the  imple- 
ments are  exceedingly  simple,  and  where,  of  consequence,  the 
band  is  the  great  operator.     Were  improvements  taking  place  in 
the  art  of  pin-making,  or  nail-making,  that  would  be  done  by  the 
instrument  which  is  now  done  by  the  quick  and  complex  motions 
of  the  hand.     In  fact,  in  the  arts  in  which  the  greatest  improve- 
ments have  had  place,  such  as  in   the  cotton  manufacture,  the 
mere  manual  dexterity  requisite  is  very   easily  acquired.     In  a 
few  weeks,   or  months,  the  limit  is   attained.     But,  when  the 
manual  dexterity  requisite  for  the   practice  of  any   art  can  be 
attained  in  so  short  a  time,  it  cannot  matter  much  to  the  society 
or  to  the  individual,  whether  the  workman  have  to  learn  one  or 
several  arts.     Besides,  the  acquisition  of  any   difficult  art  very 
much  facilitates  the  attainment  of  any  other.     The  great  matter 
is  to  get,  as  a  workman  expresses  it,  the  use  of  one's  hands.     To 
become  familiar,  that  is  to  say,  with  handling  matters  of  various 
sorts,  judging  of  their  forms  and  qualities,  and  acquiring  the  power 
of  determining  the  movement  to  be  given,  and  the  habit  of  exe- 
cuting it  quickly  and  accurately.     When  this  is  acquired,  there 
is  no  great  difficulty  in  the  management  of  any  common  tool,  if 
once  the  principle  on  which  it  operates  be  understood.     Hence 
a  good  workman  in  any  trade,  displays  comparatively  but  trifling 
awkwardness  in  applying  himself  to  any  other.     Almost  all  he 
requires  is  to  know  how  a  thing  is  done,  and  to  understand  how 
the  implements  employed  operate.     This  is  very  observable  in 
the  progress  of  new  settlements  in  America,  where  I  have  seldom 
seen  a  good  mechanic  have  much  difficulty  in  turning  his  hand, 
as  it  is  said,  to  any  thing. 

Agriculture,  from  its  nature,  is  the  art  in  which  the  division  of 
labor  has  made  least  progress.  Were  it  possible  to  conceive 
that,  by  the  operation  of  any  circumstance,  it  could  there  be  carried 
to  its  full  extent,  whether  would  its  benefits  be  felt  in  the  increased 
dexterity  of  the  workman,  or  in  the  increased  efficiency  of  the 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  355 

instruments  employed  ?  At  present  a  man  employed  in  such  work, 
generally,  ploughs,  harrows,  reaps,  mows,  threshes,  and  drives 
as  well  at  twenty-five,  as  at  thirty-five,  or  forty-five.  It  seems 
not  very  probable,  therefore,  that,  were  he  to  confine  himself 
altogether  to  one  of  these  occupations,  he  would  perform  it  belter 
than  he  now  does.  On  the  other  hand,  it  seems  very  likely,  that, 
did  the  dependence  of  the  several  agricultural  operations  on  the 
seasons  permit  the  separation  of  occupations  in  this  art,  the  im- 
plements employed  in  it  would  soon  become  much  more  efficient. 
We  see,  in  fact,  that  it  is  the  impossibility  of  this  separation  taking 
place,  that  does  here  retard  or  prevent  improvement.  Thresh- 
ing-mills, for  example,  would  be  universally  adopted,  were  it  not 
that,  being  nearly  idle  great  part  of  the  time,  the  cost  of  con- 
struction is  too  great  for  the  return.  The  machine  is  probably 
unemployed  for  nineteen  days  out  of  twenty,  so  that  could  this 
division  take  place  in  twenty  adjoining  farms,  each  of  which  has 
now  its  own  threshing-mill,  nineteen  of  those  at  present  necessary 
might  be  dispensed  with.  The  same  thing  may,  I  believe,  be 
said  concerning  drilling-machines  ;  it  is  their  cost  and  the  long 
time  they  lie  idle,  that  prevents  their  general  adoption.  Similar 
causes  altogether  prevent  the  introduction  of  many  other  ingen- 
ious machines  and  implements.  As  much  ingenuity,  indeed,  has 
been  displayed  in  contrivances  for  the  purposes  of  this  art,  as 
for  any  other,  but  the  instruments  produced,  though  they  would 
have  been  very  effective  aids  in  particular  operations,  have  never 
come  into  use,  because,  unless  for  a  few  days  every  year,  they 
would  have  lain  idle  on  the  hands  of  their  owners.  Were  it  pos- 
sible for  farmers  to  divide  their  employment,  and,  each  taking 
to  a  particular  department,  were  the  distinct  occupations  of 
ploughers,  reapers,  harrowers,  he.  to  arise,  none  of  the  instru- 
ments employed  lying  idle,  they  would  yield  much  more  speedy 
returns ;  their  construction,  in  all  probability,  would  greatly 
improve,  and  the  whole  capital  of  the  country  would  soon 
be  very  much  increased.  It  is  worth  while  observing,  too, 
that  in  this  sort  of  labor,  the  improved  construction  of  instru- 
ments seems  to  lessen  the  quantum  of  manual  dexterity  necessary. 
The  manual  dexterity  necessary  for  managing  a  threshing  or  a 
drilling-machine  is  very  trifling. 

It  is  chiefly  in  some  very  delicate  arts,  such  as  that  of  watch- 
making, or  in  some  in  which,  from  their  nature,  the  use  of  tools 


356  OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK, 

cannot  be  extensively  introduced,  as  in  printing,  that  the  efficiency 
derived  from  long  practice  is  very  great,  and  where,  consequently, 
the  division  of  labor  would  seem  in  this  way  a  direct  improvement. 
These,  however  make  but  a  small  part  of  the  arts  of  any  com- 
munity. 

2.  Amons:  the  direct  advantages  derived  from  the  division  of 
labor,  Adam  Smith  reckons  the  invention  of  many  machines 
facilitating  and  abridging  labor.  It  seems  to  me,  that  the  facts 
are,  on  the  whole,  opposed  to  this  idea.  Whatever  confines  a 
man's  faculties  to  one  monotonous  occupation,  must  rather  dull 
and  cramp,  than  quicken  and  expand  them.  "  The  understand- 
ings of  the  greater  part  of  men,  are  necessarily  formed  by  their 
ordinary  employments.  The  man,  whose  whole  life  is  spent  in 
performing  a  few  operations,  of  which  the  effects,  too,  are  per- 
haps always  the  same,  or  very  nearly  the  same,  has  no  occa- 
sion to  exert  his  understanding,  or  to  exercise  his  invention,  in 
finding  out  expedients  for  removing  difficulties  which  never  occur. 
He  naturally  loses,  therefore,  the  habit  of  such  exertion,  and 
generally  becomes  as  stupid  and  ignorant  as  it  is  possible  for  a 
human  creature  to  become.  The  torpor  of  his  mind  renders  him 
not  only  incapable  of  relishing  or  bearing  a  part  in  any  rational 
conversation,  but  of  conceiving  any  generous,  noble,  or  tender 
sentiment,  and  consequently  of  forming  any  just  judgment  con- 
cerning many  even  of  the  ordinary  duties  of  private  life.  Of 
the  great  and  extensive  interests  of  his  country  he  is  altogether 
incapable  of  judging  ;  and  unless  very  particular  pains  have  been 
taken  to  render  him  otherwise,  he  is  equally  incapable  of  de- 
fending his  country  in  war.  The  uniformity  of  his  stationary  life 
naturally  corrupts  the  courage  of  his  mind,  and  makes  him  regard, 
with  abhorrence,  the  irregular,  uncertain,  and  adventurous  life  of 
a  soldier.  It  corrupts  even  the  activity  of  his  body,  and  renders 
him  incapable  of  exerting  his  strength  with  vigor  and  perseverance 
in  any  other  employment  than  that  to  which  he  has  been  bred. 
His  dexterity  in  his  particular  trade  seems,  in  this  manner,  to 
be  acquired  at  the  expense  of  his  intellectual,  social,  and  martial 
virtues."  * 

These  beinc  the  direct  effects  on  the  intellectual  and  moral 
powers  of  the  division  of  labor,  it  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  the 
direct  cause  of  invention  in  the  artisan.     The  extended  division 
*  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  V.  c.  I. 


OF  THE  NATURE  OF  STOCK.  357 

of  labor  implies  the  existence  of  many  arts,  and  of  much  intelli- 
gence. Where  it  exists,  therefore,  the  inventive  faculties  will 
be  generally  active.  But  this  activity,  though  a  concomitant  of 
the  division  of  labor,  is  to  be  held  as  an  effect,  not  of  that  divi- 
sion, but  other  causes  themselves  producing  the  division  of  labor. 
It  will  appear,  in  short,  to  be,  hke  most  popular  principles,  a 
result,  not  a  cause ;  and  ranks  properly,  not  as  a  prime  mover  in 
the  course  of  human  affairs,  but  as  a  consequence  of  the  actions 
of  the  prime  movers. 


BOOK    III. 

OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR  ON  NATIONAL  STOCK. 

INTRODUCTION. 

When  men  unite  in  large  societies,  they  cannot  each  take  an 
active  part  in  what  concerns  the  common  good.  They  are 
obliged  to  delegate  their  individual  powers  and  rights  to  act,  in 
things  relating  to  it,  to  several,  or  to  one.  This  body  of  men, 
or  this  man,  acting  and  making  laws  for  the  supposed  advantage 
of  the  whole,  may  properly  be  termed  the  legislator.  It  is,  there- 
fore, the  capacities  and  powers  of  the  whole,  as  far  as  they  make 
one,  turned  to  this  sphere  of  action,  and  designated  by  this  term, 
that  we  have  now  to  consider, 

"  Man  is  generally  considered  by  statesmen  and  projectors,  as 
the  materials  of  a  sort  of  political  mechanics.  Projectors  disturb 
nature  in  the  course  of  her  operations  on  human  affairs ;  and  it 
requires  no  more  than  to  let  her  alone  and  give  her  fair  play  in 
the  pursuit  of  her  ends,  that  she  may  establish  her  own  designs." 
"  Little  else  is  requisite  to  carry  a  state  to  the  highest  degree  of 
opulence  from  the  lowest  barbarism  but  peace,  easy  taxes,  and  a 
tolerable  administration  of  justice ;  all  the  rest  being  brought 
about  by  the  natural  course  of  things.  All  governments  which 
thwart  this  natural  course,  which  force  things  into  another  chan- 
nel, or  which  endeavor  to  arrest  the  progress  of  society  at  a  par- 
ticular point,  are  unnatural,  and  to  support  themselves  are  obliged 
to  be  oppressive  and  tyrannical."  * 

The  principle  here  set  forth  by  Adam  Smith,  though  not  for- 
mally announced  in  the  Wealth  of  Nations,  runs,  nevertheless, 
through  the  whole  work,  and  in  its  particular  application  to  this 
science,  forms  the  most  important  of  the  conclusions  to  which 
his  reasonings  tend.  It  is  very  frequently,  also,  expressly  brought 
forward  by  the  supporters  of  his  opinions,  as  an  argument  against 
the  interference  of  the  legislator,  and  of  all  those  they  employ, 


104 


Account  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Dr.  Smith,  by  Dugald  Stewart,  p. 


OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE   LEGISLATOR,  &c.      359 

none  perhaps,  is  more  popular,  or  has  had  greater  influence  in 
giving  currency  to  the  system.  A  brief  examination  of  its  merit 
may  not,  then,  form  an  improper  introduction  to  the  particular 
subject  of  this  book. 

In  strict  philosophical  accuracy,  the  whole  of  every  political 
system  is  certainly  natural.  Every  political  system  must  be 
allowed  to  have  proceeded  from  the  operation  through  long  ex- 
tended time,  of  the  things  without,  and  the  things  within  man, 
acting  as  the  powers  and  principles  which  nature  has  given  them, 
cause  them  to  act.  Every  such  system  has  many  parts,  but 
they  all  belong  to  a  great  whole,  and  from  their  action  and 
reaction  on  each  other  the  movements  of  that  whole  proceed. 
It  seems  not,  therefore,  to  me,  that  we  can  take  any  of  those 
parts  separate  from  the  others,  and  with  propriety  say,  that  it 
acts  in  opposition  to  the  designs  of  nature,  for  that  cannot  well 
be  said  to  be  in  opposition  to  the  designs  of  nature,  or  to  thwart 
her  operations,  which  proceeds  from  principles  that  she  herself 
has  established.  Least  of  all  can  statesmen  be  taken  separate 
from  the  rest  of  the  frame  of  society,  and  the  actions  they  gener- 
ate considered  as  unnatural,  or  operating  contrary  to  the  order  of 
things  which  nature  has  established,  for,  to  speak  in  the  general, 
they  are  all  moulded  after  the  form  and  character  of  their  time 
and  nation,  and  instead  of  giving  laws  to  the  age,  must  rather  be 
regarded  by  the  philosopher  as  emanations  of  its  genius,  and 
organs  by  which  its  voice  is  uttered.  Were  the  whole  present 
race  of  politicians  swept  from  the  earth,  so  little  essential  differ- 
ence would  there  be  between  them  and  their  successors,  that  the 
change  hence  resulting  to  human  affairs  could  not,  probably, 
be  traced  a  century  afterwards.  Napoleon,  when  speaking  on 
this  subject  to  one  of  his  generals,  is  somewhere  reported  to 
have  expressed  himself  in  nearly  the  following  terms.  "  We  are 
apt  to  think  that  w"e  have  done  much  more  than  we  really  have. 
It  is  the  march  of  events  that  has  made  us,  and  makes  us,  what 
we  are.  Had  you  and  I  never  existed,  our  places  would  have 
been  held  by  others,  and  were  we  now  to  cease  to  exist,  the; 
blank  would  be  so  filled  as  not  to  be  perceptible  :  "  It  must  be 
allowed  that  this  was  with  justice  said  of  himself,  even  by  such 
a  man.  Already  we  perceive  that  all  the  apparently  mighty 
changes,  referable  to  his  personal  agency,  were  rather  undulations 
on  the  surface  of  the  tide  of  human  affairs,  than  alterations  in  its 
course. 

When  we  speak  of  the  course  of  the  operations  of  nature  on 
human  affairs,  philosophical  accuracy  would,  I  think,  imply  a 
reference  to  the  whole  course,  and  all  the  springs  and  principles, 
that  actuate  and  guide  it.  These  springs  and  principles,  discord- 
ant and  jarring  as  they  may  appear,  may,  nevertheless,  have 
been  so  adjusted  by  the  hand  of  nature,  as  to  have  a  tendency 


360    OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR 

gradually  to  bring  the  whole  system  nearer  and  nearer  perfection 
and  happiness, 

"  From  seeming  evil  still  educing  good, 
And  better  tlience  again,  and  better  still, 
In  infinite  progression.'' 

This  is  a  pleasing  and  no  improbable  theory,  but,  in  this  view  of 
the  subject,  it  is  the  tendency  of  the  whole  of  these  springs  and 
principles  that  we  have  to  consider,  not  some  taken  apart  from 
others.  Indeed,  if  we  reason  analogically,  concerning  the  appar- 
ent action  of  these  different  springs  and  principles,  so  far  from  its 
appearing  probable  that  the  direct  interference  of  the  legislator 
in  endeavoring  to  give  an  advantageous  direction  to  the  course 
of  the  national  industry,  in  its  efforts  after  the  production  of 
wealth,  is  a  principle  unlikely  to  farther  that  production,  the  pre- 
sumption rather  is,  that  it  will  farther  it. 

To  perceive  this,  it  is  necessary  particularly  to  attend  to  the 
distinction  which  Adam  Smith  makes  between  nature  and  art  as 
applied  to  the  progress  of  human  affairs.  When  we  say,  a  thing 
is  produced  by  art,  we  mean,  that  it  is  the  result  of  the  agency 
of  man,  designedly  directed  to  its  production.  When  we  say,  a 
thing  is  produced  by  nature ;  we  mean  that  it  is  produced  either 
without  the  agency  of  man,  or,  if  by  his  agency,  without  its  being 
his  intention  to  produce  that,  which  he,  nevertheless,  produces. 
Thus  the  fruit,  which  a  tree  cultivated  with  care  in  an  orchard 
yields,  is  an  artificial  production,  that  yielded  by  another  growing 
spontaneously  in  some  wild,  is  a  natural  production.  A  path 
betw^een  two  points  marked  out  by  rule  and  line  is  artificial.  A 
footpath  formed  by  the  mere  unconstrained  passing  of  many  peo- 
ple from  one  point  to  another,  is  natural,  because,  though  equally 
with  the  former  the  work  of  man,  it  is  not  designedly  formed  by 
him.  In  this  case  it  was  his  intention  merely  to  pass  from  place 
to  place,  not  to  form  a  path  by  so  passing.  It  is  in  this  latter 
sense,  that  the  production  of  national  wealth  is  said  to  be  the 
work  of  nature.  It  is  said  to  be  the  intention  of  each  individual 
in  a  nation,  to  advance  merely  his  own  wealth,  and  the  tendency 
which  the  actions  of  all  the  individuals  in  a  nation  have  to  ad- 
vance the  sum  of  the  national  opulence,  as  it  is  said  to  make  no 
part  of  their  motives  to  action,  is  esteemed  a  work  of  nature,  in 
the  same  manner  as  we  may  esteem  a  footpatli,  formed  by  the 
continual  passing  of  people  over  some  moor  or  heath,  to  be  the 
work  of  nature.  According  to  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  is  the 
legislator  alone,  who  can,  of  design,  act  with  the  view  to  advance 
the  national  opulence.  It  is  hekl,  however,  that  as  this  inter- 
ference of  the  legislator  disturbs  the  course  which  events  would 
otherwise  have  taken,  it  acts  in  opposition  to  the  course  of  nature, 
and,  therefore,  that  the  presumption  is  that  it  will  be  injurious. 
On  the  contrary,  I  hold,  that  a  just  analogy  would  rather  lead  us 
to  infer  that  it  will  be  beneficial. 


ON  NATIONAL  STOCK.  361 

It  must  be  acknowleds-ed  that  when  man  acts  most  success- 
fully,  it  is  thus  that  he  does  act.  He  never,  indeed,  seeks  to 
conquer  nature  otherwise  than  by  obeying  her,  but  his  aim, 
nevertheless,  always  is  to  conquer  her.  By  observing  the  order 
of  events,  he  acquires  the  power  of  changing  that  order.  He 
does  so,  by  that  which  distinguishes  him  from  other  animals,  the 
reasoning  faculty,  which  so  directed  we  term  art,  and  without 
the  aid  of  which  so  directed,  we  scarce  attain  any  object. 

But  though  art  and  nature  are  thus  put  in  opposition  to  each 
other,  the  form  of  expression  is  more  popular  than  correct. 
Were  the  changes  which  man  every  where  produces  on  the 
course  of  events,  contrary  to  the  designs  of  nature,  we  may  rest 
satisfied  that  she  would  not  have  given  him  powers  sufficient  to 
effect  them.  What  we  call  a  conquering  or  governing  of  nature, 
is  to  be  held,  in  a  more  enlarged  and  truer  sense,  an  acting  in  obe- 
dience to  her  designs,  and  man  as  a  reasoning  animal  is  rather  to 
be  considered  as  an  instrument  in  her  hands,  through  which  she 
effects  much  of  that  change  in  the  order  of  events,  and  conse- 
quent progress  from  good  to  better,  that  we  may  fairly  hope  is 
going  on,  than  as  a  separate  agent  acting  in  opposition  to  her. 
In  this  sense,  all  art  may  be  said  to  be  nature,  as  in  another 
sense  all  nature  may  be  said  to  be  art. 

Is  it  then  a  thing  to  be  assum.ed,  a  priori,  as  next  to  demon- 
strable, that  art,  the  art  of  the  legislator,  cannot  operate  so  as  to 
advance  t,he  prosperity  of  nations?  That,  of  all  the  springs  and 
principles  actuating  the  movement  of  societies,  it  is  the  only  one 
powerless  to  do  good,  or  whose  power  can  no  otherwise  be  advan- 
tageously exerted  than  in  checking  its  own  propensity  to  act? 
That  though  in  every  other  department  of  human  action  it  is 
called  on  to  lead,  yet  here  it  must  impose  chains  on  itself  and  sit 
still  ?  That  though  every  where  else  nature  willingly  submits 
herself  to  its  government,  nay,  seems  to  court  it,  yet  here  she 
commands  it  to  rest  a  mere  spectator,  beholding  her  "working 
out  her  own  ends  in  her  own  way  ?  " 

The  presumption,  it  seems  to  me,  would  rather  be,  that, 
though  neither  here  nor  elsewhere  can  man  in  wisdom  oppose 
nature,  yet  here,  as  elsewhere,  he  is  called  on  to  direct  her  oper- 
ations. That  the  result  of  a  successful  inquiry  into  the  nature  of 
wealth,  would  terminate  in  affording  the  means  of  exposing  the 
errors  that  legislators  had  committed  from  not  attending  to  all 
the  circumstances  connected  with  the  growth  of  that  wealth, 
whose  progress  it  had  been  their  aim  to  advance,  and  would  so 
teach  them,  not  that  they  ought  to  remain  inactive,  but  how  they 
may  act  safely,  and  advantageously  ;  and  that  thus,  it  would 
maintain  the  analogy  running  through  the  w^hole  of  mr-n's  con- 
nexion with  the  trains  of  events  going  on  about  him,  tlie  course 
of  which  he  governs  by  ascertaining  exactly  what  it  is.     That 

46 


362        OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE   LEGISLATOR,  «&c. 

here,  as  elsewhere,  his  advance  In  knowledge  would  show  him 
his  power,  not  his  impotence. 

According  to  the  view  of  the  nature  of  stock,  and  of  the 
causes  generating  and  adding  to  it,  which  has  been  given  in  the 
preceding  book,  it  would  seem  that  its  increase  is  advanced : 

I.  By  whatever  promotes  the  general  intelligence  and  morality 
of  the  society;  and  that,  consequently,  the  moral  and  intellectual 
education  of  the  people  makes  an  important  element  in  its  pro- 
gress : 

II.  By  whatever  promotes  invention  ; 

1.  By  advancing  the  progress  of  science  and  art  within  the 
community  ; 

2.  By  the  transfer  from  other  communities  of  the  sciences  and 
arts  there  generated : 

III.  By  whatever  prevents  the  dissipation  in  luxury,  of  any 
portion  of  the  funds  of  the  community. 

A  full  investigation  of  the  modes  in  which  the  legislator  may  pro- 
mote the  increase  of  the  stock  of  the  community,  would  compre- 
hend an  examination  of  the  manner  in  which  he  may  operate  in 
these  several  particulars,  of  the  rules  necessary  for  him  to  observe 
in  each  case,  and  an  enumeration  of  instances,  in  which,  according 
as  his  efforts  have  been  judiciously  or  injudiciously  exerted,  he 
has  succeeded  or  failed  in  his  enterprises. 

But  an  investigation  of  all  these  particulars  would  extend  far 
beyond  the  bounds  which  I  have  prescribed  myself.  I  purpose, 
therefore,  to  confine  myself  to  two  of  them,  and  to  limit  the  sub- 
ject of  this  book  to  show  that  tlie  legislator  may  operate  with 
advantage  to  the  community,  1st.  in  the  transfer  of  foreign  arts 
to  his  own  country ;  2d,  in  applying  to  useful  purposes  funds 
which  would  otherwise  be  dissipated  in  luxury. 


CHAPTER   I. 


OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR   IN  BRINGING  THE  ARTS  OF 
FOREIGN  COUNTRIES  TO  IIIS  OWN. 

When  we  examine  the  arts  practised  by  the  members  of  any 
of  the  numerous  societies,  among  whom  the  surface  of  the  earth 
is  divided,  we  find  that  there  are  very  few  which  have  arisen 
among  themselves.  Unless  in  some  rare  instances,  they  have 
been  all  brought  from  abroad.  Inventions  appearing  at  various 
points  in  their  rude  elementary  state,  have  gradually  spread 
themselves  far  and  wide,  and,  as  they  have  spread,  have  im- 
proved. These  passages  from  place  to  place,  seem  to  have  been 
generally  brought  about  by  violent  causes — by  wars,  internal 
disturbances,  and  revolutions,*  But,  as  society  assumes  a  more 
settled  form,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  reason  will  rise  superior  to 
force,  and  that  changes  produced  by  violence  will  diminish ;  that 
wars  and  tumults  will  become  less  frequent,  or  will  altogether 
cease,  and  that  thus  a  great  portion  of  the  evils  which  have 
afflicted  humanity  will  be  removed.  But  if  the  direct  evils 
brought  about  by  the  reign  of  violence,  be  removed  by  the 
ascendency  of  reason  over  passion,  must  the  indirect  good  also 
produced  by  it  be  abandoned  ?  or,  is  it  not  the  place  of  the 
intellectual  part  of  our  nature5_  watching  in  this,  as  in  other 
instances,  the  progress  of  events,  so  to  influence  that  progress, 
as  that  the  good  may  be  brought  to  pass,  the  evil  prevented? 

The  answer  to  these  questions  is,  I  conceive,  too  obvious  to  re- 
quire a  formal  enunciation.  If  this  be  the  case,  it  would  not  seem 
necessary  to  recommence  a  discussion  concerning  the  apparent 
propriety  of  assistance  being  in  many  instances  given  by  the 
legislator  to  the  passage  of  the  useful  arts  from  country  to  country. 

*  See  Book  I.  c.  ii.  and  Book  II.  c.  x.  and  xiii. 


364     OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR 

This,  as  a  general  practical  conclusion,  must  be  granted.  The 
question  again  resolves  itself  into  particulars,  and  the  investiga- 
tions of  the  political  economist,,  would  seem  to  be  confined  to 
the  tracing  out,  from  the  principles  of  his  science,  rules  determin- 
ing when  the  passage  of  any  art  is  practicable,  and  when  the 
benefits  derived  from  it  will  exceed,  or  fall  short  of  the  necessary 
expense  of  effecting  the  passage.  It  is  not  my  intention  to 
attempt  a  full  discussion  of  these  various  particulars.  It  will  be 
sufficient  for  the  object  in  view,  to  enumerate  the  general  advan- 
tages which  such  transfers  produce,  and  to  state  some  of  the 
chief  circumstances  favorable,  and  some  of  the  others  adverse  to 
their  success. 

When  these  measures  are  completely  successful,  that  is,  when 
the  commodity,  the  product  of  the  art  in  question,  comes  to  be 
made  at  the  same  cost  in  the  country  to  which  its  manufacture  is 
transferred,  as  in  that  from  which  it  comes,  or  at  less  cost  than 
there,  the  advantages  which  the  community  derives  from  them 
are  various,  but,  as  concerns  commodities,  not  luxuries,  may  be 
reduced  to  three  heads. 

1.  The  saving  of  the  expense  of  transport  of  the  foreign  com- 
modity. TJiis,  as  has  been  already  noticed,  is  often  very  great."* 
It  may  be  remarked,  too,  that  some  articles  are  so  perishable,  or 
so  difficult  of  transport,  that  they  cannot  enter  into  the  system  of 
exchange  of  two  societies.  They  are  produced,  or  may  very 
easily  be  produced  in  the  progress  of  the  construction  and  ex- 
haustion of  other  instruments,  but  from  its  being  found  very  diffi- 
cult or  impracticable  to  transport  them  to  places  where  they 
mi'dit  be  exchanged  for  valuable  commodities,  they  want  the 
whole,  or  a  great  part  of  the  utility  they  would  there  possess. 
A  farmer,  for  instance,  in  the  interior  of  some  great  agricultural 
country,  say  North  America,  has  almost  always  a  large  mass  of 
commodities  which  are  nearly,  or  altogether,  valueless  to  him. 
Great  part  of  the  timber  he  cuts  down  he  is  obliged  to  burn  up 
on  the  ground,  and  much  of  the  produce  of  his  orchard,  of  his 
dairy,  and  of  his  poultry  yard  and  garden,  is  either  entirely,  or 
in  a  great  measure,  lost.  No  little  part  of  the  direct  produce  of 
the  farm,  is  also  lost.  His  working  cattle  are  idle  for  weeks  or 
months  in  the  course  of  the  year,  and  any  superabundance  of  the 

*  Book  I.  c.  ii. 


ON  NATIONAL  STOCK.  365 

more  bulky  articles,  such  as  turnips,  potatoes,  oats,  or  hay,  lies 
nearly  useless  on  his  hands.  When  a  manufacturing  village  is 
established  in  his  neighborhood,  all  such  productions  become 
valuable,  and  are  transferred  to  the  artisan,  and  master  manufac- 
turer, as  returns  for  the  products  of  their  art.  The  pine  of  the 
forest  goes  to  build  their  houses,  the  maple,  the  birch,  and  the 
walnut  to  make  furniture  for  them,  all  potatoes  and  other  vege- 
tables of  the  sort,  that  can  be  spared,  are  consumed  by  them  as 
articles  of  food,  the  working  cattle  get  employed  at  all  times, 
and  there  are  none  of  the  returns  of  the  industry  of  the  agricul- 
turist, but  find  a  ready  market.  The  advantages  hence  resulting 
to  the  parts  of  the  country  where  the  new  art  fixes  itself,  may  be 
estimated  by  observing  the  great  rise  in  the  value  and  rent  of 
land  which  follows  it.  We  have  also  a  good  measure  of  them, 
in  the  difference  between  these  in  the  neio;hborhood  of  manufac- 
turing  towns  and  villages,  and  in  places  distant  from  them.  ' 

The  direct  effect,  therefore,  of  these  general  and  partial  im- 
provements, is  to  carry  instruments,  generally  or  partially  through- 
out the  community,  to  orders  of  quicker  return,  and  so  increase 
the  absolute  capital  of  the  society. 

2.  They  have  also  a  large  indirect  effect  in  carrying  instru- 
ments to  orders  of  quicker  return,  by  stimulating  invention,  and 
diminishing  the  propensity  to  servile  imitation.*  Every  useful 
art  is  so  connected  with  many,  or  with  all  others,  that  whatever 
renders  its  products  more  easily  attainable,  facilitates  the  opera- 
tions of  a  whole  circle  of  arts,  and  introduces  change  —  the  great 
agent  in  producing  improvements  —  under  the  most  favorable 
form.  Thus  the  recent  improvements  in  the  iron  manufacture, 
have  in  Great  Britain  had  no  inconsiderable  share  in  efFectins  the 
general  improvement  in  the  mechanical  arts  which  has  there 
taken  place.  Arts,  too,  as  we  have  seen,  when  brought  together 
pass  into  one  another,  and  thus  also  improvements  in  old  arts 
are  produced,  or  new  arts  generated.  Even  their  very  existence 
in  any  society  gives  a  powerful  stimulus  to  the  ingenuity  of  its 
members.  This  has  been  well  noticed  by  Mr.  Hamilton:  "To 
cherish  and  invigorate  the  activity  of  the  human  mind,  by  multi- 
plying the  objects  of  enterprise,  is  not  among  the  least  consider- 
able of  the  expedients  by  which  the  wealth  of  a  nation  may  be 

*  Book  II.  c.  X. 


366     OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR 

promoted.  Even  things  in  themselves  not  positively  advanta- 
geous, sometimes  become  so,  by  their  tendency  to  provoke  exer- 
tion. Every  new  scene  which  is  opened  to  the  busy  nature  of 
man,  to  rouse  and  exert  itself,  is  the  addition  of  a  new  energy  to 
the  general  stock  of  effort. 

"  The  spirit  of  enterprise,  useful  and  prolific  as  it  is,  must  neces- 
sarily be  contracted  or  expanded  in  proportion  to  the  simplicity 
or  variety  of  the  occupations  and  productions  which  are  to  be 
found  in  a  society.  It  must  be  less  in  a  nation  of  mere  cultiva- 
tors, than  in  a  nation  of  cultivators  and  merchants,  less  in  a 
nation  of  cultivators  and  merchants,  than  in  a  nation  of  cultiva- 
tors, artificers,  and  merchants."  * 

3.  The  supply  of  any  commodities  which  one  society  is  in  the 
habit  of  receiving  from  another  and  independent  society,  is  liable 
to  be  suddenly  interrupted  by  wars,  or  other  causes.  Hence 
arises  great  waste  of  the  resources  of  the  community.  In  many 
cases  the  whole  system  of  instruments  it  possesses  is  at  once 
disjointed,  and  it  is  long  before  the  society  recovers  from  the 
shock.  The  deficiency  is  at  last  supplied,  it  may  be  in  a  more 
effective  manner  than  before,  but  in  the  interim  there  is  great 
waste.f  Communities  dependent  on  others  for  the  supply  of 
commodities  for  which  they  cannot  readily  find  substitutes,  must 
necessarily,  every  now  and  then,  be  subjected  to  great  diminu- 
tion of  their  funds  from  such  causes.  There  are  few  expensive 
wars  that  do  not  furnish  instances  of  it.  It  is  probable  that  the 
absolute  loss  so  caused  to  the  present  United  States,  from  the 
interruption  of  their  intercourse  with  Great  Britain,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  of  the  revolution,  equalled  the  whole  ex- 
pense of  that  war.  The  loss  which  many  of  the  continental 
nations  experienced  from  the  sudden  interruption  to  the  supply 
of  British  manufactures,  during  the  progress  of  the  war  against 
Napoleon,  was  also  excessive.  Great  Britain  herself,  on  the 
same  occasion,  suffered  very  severely  from  being  at  once  deprived 
•of  the  supply  of  materials  necessary  to  many  branches  of  her 
industry.  Thus  the  cutting  off  the  supply  of  Baltic  and  Norwe- 
gian timber,  was  for  some  years  very  sensibly  felt  by  her. 

It  is  no  doubt  true,  that,  on  such  occasions,  the  necessity  which 
arises  to  procure  substitutes  for  the  commodities  which  are  defi- 

*  Works,  vol.  I.     Report  on  Manufactures, 
f  Book  II.  c.  xiv. 


ON  NATIONAL  STOCK.  367 

cient,  largely  stimulating  ingenuity,  often  ultimately  produces 
real  benefit.  Wars  and  similar  interruptions  to  intercourse,  as 
has  been  repeatedly  observed,  are,  in  fact,  one  of  the  chief  agents 
by  which  the  arts  have  been  made  to  pass  ft-om  country  to 
country.  But  the  same  benefits  might  have  been  produced  by 
the  gradual  operations  of  the  legislator,  without  the  sacrifice  in 
this  way  required,  and  it  is  the  business  of  reason,  watching 
events,  to  separate  tlie  good  from  the  evil,  and  to  search  for 
plans  of  obtaining  the  one,  and  avoiding  the  other. 

But,  while  the  legislator  is  called  on  to  act,  he  is  also  called 
on  to  act  cautiously,  and  to  regulate  his  proceedings  by  an  atten- 
tive consideration  of  the  progress  of  events.  He  is  never  justi- 
fiable in  attempting  to  transfer  arts  yielding  utilities  from  foreign 
countries  to  his  own,  unless  he  have  sufficient  reason  to  conclude 
that  they  will  ultimately  lessen  the  cost  of  the  commodities  they 
produce,  or  are  of  such  a  nature,  that  the  risk  of  waste  to  the 
stock  of  the  community,  from  a  sudden  interruption  to  their  im- 
portation from  abroad,  is  sufficiently  great  to  warrant  the  probable 
expense,  both  of  the  transfer  and  of  maintaining  the  manufacture 
at  home.  It  is  his  business  first  to  ascertain  these  points,  and  to 
regulate  his  proceedings  accordingly. 

When  there  are  circumstances  particularly  unfavorable  to  the 
practice  of  the  art,  and  no  countervailing  circumstances  particu- 
larly favorable  to  it,  the  first  introduction  of  it  must  always  cost 
the  society  high,  and  the  subsequent  maintaining  of  it  will  in  all 
probability  be  a  burden  on  the  common  industry  and  stock. 
Among  unfavorable  circumstances  may  be  noted  a  strength  of 
the  effective  desire  of  accumulation,  less  than  that  of  a  foreign 
country,  and  instruments  consequently  remaining  at  orders  of 
quicker  return.  This  is  a  circumstance  lying  beyond  the  reach 
of  the  legislator,  and  which  he  cannot  hope  to  change.  If  then 
there  are  no  other  counteracting  favorable  circumstances,  the  art 
cannot  be  transferred  and  preserved,  but  at  great  and  continual 
expense.  Examples  of  injudicious  conduct  of  the  legislator  from 
inattention  to  this  particular  have  been  not  unfrequent.  As  an 
instance,  may  be  noted  the  attempts  of  Louis  XIV.  to  make 
France  a  maritime  and  commercial  nation.  To  do  so,  it  only 
required  that  the  principle  of  accumulation  should  have  existed 
in  sufficient  strength  among  the  people  of  France,  to  carry  them 
to  the  construction  of  instrunients  of  the  same  orders  as  were 


368        OF  THE  OPERAIIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR,  &c. 

formed  in  England,  and  other  maritime  and  commercial  nations. 
The  French  at  that  time  had  ships  and  commerce,  and  had  their 
accumulative  principle  been  so  strong  as  to  lead  them  to  con- 
struct instruments  returning  as  slowly  as  those  formed  by  the 
English  and  Dutch,  their  commerce  and  navy  would  easily  have 
rivaled  those  of  these  nations.  The  attempt  of  the  British,  in 
some  instances,  to  supplant  the  Dutch  in  their  fishery,  was  liable 
to  a  similar  objection. 

Among  circumstances  particularly  favorable  to  the  transfer  of 
a  foreign  art,  may  be  noted  the  raw  materials  of  the  manufacture 
existing  within  the  territory  of  the  society  in  abundance.  The 
acquisition  of  the  art  in  this  case  saves  the  expense  of  a  double 
transport.  On  this  account,  the  bringing  the  woollen  manufac- 
ture to  England  was  a  very  happy  measure. 

Great  strength  of  the  accumulative  principle,  is  also  another 
particularly  favorable  circumstance.  This  rendered  the  efforts 
of  the  English  in  the  beginning  of  last  century,  to  acquire  many 
foreign  manufactures,  prudent  and  successful. 

The  legislator  effects  his  purposes  by  premiums  for  successful 
individual  imitations  of  the  foreign  article  ;  by  general  bounties 
on  the  home  manufacture ;  or  by  duties  on  that  imported  from 
abroad.     Of  these,  premiums  take  so  little  out  of  the  common 
funds,  that  their  amount  forms  an  item  too  small  to  enter  into  the 
calculation,  in  questions  of  national  policy.     They  are  useful  as 
testing  the   practicability  of  the   transfer.      That  having  been 
done,  it  having  been  made   sufficiently  apparent  that  nothing 
prevents  the  branch  of  industry  in  question  being  established, 
but  the  difficulties  attending  new  undertakings,  the  want  of  skilled 
labor,  and  a  sufficiently  accurate  knowledge  of  the  properties  of 
the  materials  to  be  employed  in  the  formation  of  the  new  instru- 
ments, it  is  then  proper  to  proceed  to  direct  and  general  encour- 
agements by  bounties  or  duties.     In  this  way  real  capital,  and 
healthy  enterprise  are  directed  to  the  art,  the  difficulties  attend- 
ing its  introduction  overcome  in  the  shortest  possible  space,  and 
the  commodities  yielded  by  it  are  produced  at  less  outlay,  and 
afforded  at  a  less  price  than  that,  at  which  they  were  before  im- 
ported. 


CHAPTER    II. 


OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR  ON  LUXURIES. 

The  legislator  Is  always  called  on  to  provide  a  considerable 
annual  revenue.  He  has  to  provide  for  the  expenses  incident  to 
the  conduct  of  present  wars,  to  the  burdens  imposed  by  those 
of  preceding  times,  to  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  public 
works,  to  the  encouragement  of  science  and  art  by  premiums  and 
otherwise,  and  to  various  other  outlays.  If  any  part,  therefore, 
of  this  necessary  annual  expenditure,  can  be  drawn  from  funds 
naturally  dissipated  in  luxury,  the  art  of  the  legislator  will  here 
effect  a  saving  to  the  community  to  that  amount. 

Commodities  which  are  mere  luxuries,  derive  their  value,  as 
we  have  seen,*  from  the  difBculty  of  obtaining  them.  The 
amount  of  labor  necessary  to  procure  them,  and  which  thus  may 
be  said  to  be  embodied  in  them,  is  what  makes  them  esteemed. 
It  is  through  it  that  they  become  fit  objects  of  vanity,  marks  of 
riches,  things  distinguishing  their  possessors  from  other  men.  It 
is  of  no  consequence  how  this  labor  has  been  expended.  It  may 
have  been  given  to  ransack  the  depths  of  the  earth  as  for  dia- 
monds, or  of  the  sea  as  for  pearls.  All  that  the  possessor  of  the 
luxury  desires,  is,  to  have  a  means  of  showing  that  he  has  ac- 
quired the  command  of  a  certain  amount  of  the  exertions  of  other 
men.  It  is  a  matter  of  indifference  to  him,  what  the  difficulty 
is,  to  surmount  which  these  exertions  are  necessary.  Thus, 
were  we  to  suppose  that  diamonds  could  only  be  procureduTrom 
one  particular  and  distant  country,  and  pearls  from  another,  and 
were  the  produce  of  the  mines  in  the  former,  and  of  the  fishery 
in  the  latter,  from  the  operation  of  natural  causes  to  become 

*  Book  II.  c.  xi. 

47 


370  OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR 

doubly  difficult  to  procure,  the  effect  would  merely  be  that  in 
time  half  the  quantity  of  diamonds  and  pearls  would  be  sufficient 
to  mark  a  certain  opulence  and  rank,  that  it  had  before  been 
necessary  to  employ  for  that  purpose.  The  same  quantity  of 
gold,  or  some  other  commodity  reducible  at  last  to  labor,  would 
be  required  to  procure  the  now  reduced  amount,  as  the  former 
larger  amount.  Were  the  difficulty  interposed  by  the  regula- 
tions of  the  legislators  of  the  distant  countries,  it  could  make  no 
difference  to  the  fitness  of  these  articles  to  serve  the  purposes  of 
vanity.  As  in  the  case  of  a  natural  difficulty,  an  additional 
quantity  of  labor  would  be  requisite  to  procure  the  commodities 
in  question,  and  they  w^ould,  therefore,  equally  serve  the  pur- 
poses of  vanity.  Nor  would  it  seem  to  alter  the  case,  were  the 
difficulty  interposed  by  the  legislator  of  the  society  consuming 
the  articles. 

For  the  sake  of  illustration,  we  may  suppose  that  some  par- 
ticular society  is  possessed  of  a  pearl  fishery,  from  which  its 
members  are  supplied  with  the  pearls  they  use,  and  farther,  that 
the  case  may  assume  the  simplest  form,  that  this  society  has  no 
communication  with  any  other.  The  fishery  is  situated  in  a 
particular  bay,  where  alone,  it  is  found,  the  animals  yielding 
these  concretions  can  live.  The  labor  annually  expended  in 
procuring  this  luxury,  amounts  to  a  million  days,  or  reckoning 
each  day  at  two  shillings,  to  one  hundred  thousand  pounds. 
Each  day's  labor  procures  one  hundred  oysters ;  from  which,  on 
an  average,  one  pearl  is  procured.  In  this  state  of  things  a  dis- 
covery is  made,  similar  to  that  which  Linneus  conceived  proba- 
ble. It  is  found,  that,  by  a  particular  process,  the  diseased 
action  in  this  creature,  which,  like  ossification  in  the  human 
body,  produces  a  deposition  of  calcareous  matter  in  its  fleshy 
substance,  instead  of  on  the  sustaining  earthy  portion  of  its  frame, 
may  be  induced  ad  libitum.  The  effect  of  this  discovery  is  to 
diminish  very  greatly  the  labor  necessary  to  procure  these  sub- 
stances. In  process  of  time,  every  hundred  oysters,  instead  of 
one,  yield,  on  an  average,  five  hundred  pearls,  consequently  the 
amount  of  labor  expended  in  procuring  each  might  be  little  more 
than  the  five  hundredth  part  of  what  it  was. 

The  ultimate  effect  of  such  a  change  would  depend  on  whether 
the  fishery  were  free  or  not.  Were  it  free  to  all,  as  pearls  could 
be  got  simply  for  the  labor  of  fishing  for  them,  a  string  of  them 


ON  NATIONAL  STOCK.  371 

might  be  had  for  a  few  pence.  The  very  poorest  class  of  women 
in  the  society  could,  therefore,  afford  to  decorate  their  persons 
with  them.  They  would  thus  soon  become  extremely  vulgar, 
and  unfashionable,  and  so  at  last  valueless. 

If,  however,  we  suppose  that  instead  of  the  fishery  being  free, 
the  legislator  owns  and  has  complete  command  of  the  place, 
where  alone  pearls  are  to  be  procured,  as  the  progress  of  dis- 
covery advanced,  he  might  impose  a  duty  on  them  equal  to  the 
diminution  of  labor  necessary  to  procure  them.  They  would 
then  be  as  much  esteemed  as  they  were  before.  What  simple 
beauty  they  have  would  remain  unchanged.  The  difficulty  to 
be  surmounted  in  order  to  obtain  them,  would  be  different,  but 
equally  great,  and  they  would,  therefore,  equally  serve  to  mark 
the  opulence  of  those  who  possessed  them.  If  we  suppose  the 
yearly  expense  of  obtaining  the  pearls,  and  of  collecting  the  duty 
on  them,  to  amount  to  twenty  thousand  pounds,  there  would 
then  remain  to  the  legislator,  a  clear  annual  revenue  from  this 
source  of  eighty  thousand  pounds.  This  revenue  would  not 
cost  the  society  any  thing.  If  not  abused  in  its  application,  it 
would  be  a  clear  addition  of  so  much  to  the  resources  of  the 
community. 

Were  the  precious  metals  in  reality,  as  Adam  Smith  seems  to 
have  conceived,  mere  luxuries,  a  tax  imposed  on  them  at  the 
mines  would  have  a  similar  effect  to  the  hypothetical  tax  on 
pearls,  which  we  have  been  considering.  It  would  make  a  real 
addition  of  so  much  to  the  revenue  of  the  community  possessing 
the  mines.  In  this  case  the  tax  imposed  by  the  king  of  Spain 
on  the  gold  and  silver  obtained  from  America,  amounting  at  first 
to  half  of  the  whole  quantity  annually  procured,  would  not, 
unless  among  the  first  adventurers,  have  caused  any  diminution 
of  the  revenue  of  individuals,  and  its  produce  would  have  formed 
a  large  real  addition  to  the  general  revenue  of  the  society. 

Neither  in  this  case,  however,  nor  perhaps  in  any  other,  have 
commodities  altogether  luxuries  presented  themselves  to  the 
operations  of  the  legislator.  They  all,  probably,  derive  part  of 
their  value  from  their  utility,  although  in  many  instances  the  part  it 
makes  up  may  be  very  small.  Hence  a  general  tax  upon  almost 
any  class  of  commodities,  is  a  tax  in  whole,  or  in  part,  upon 
some  utility,  and  abstracts  something  from  the  revenue  of  its 
consumers.     All  silk  goods  are  perhaps  in  part  luxuries  to  the 


372  OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR 

majority  of  those  who  consume  them.  They  are  also,  however, 
in  a  very  great  degree,  and  to  all  classes,  utilities.  There  is  a 
real  beauty  and  durability  in  such  fabrics,  probably  in  many  cases 
sufficient  to  warrant  the  higher  price  paid  for  them.  A  general 
tax,  therefore,  upon  silks,  though  it  would  in  part  be  a  tax  on 
luxuries,  and,  in  so  far,  occasion  no  diminution  of  the  revenues 
of  any  one,  would  also  in  part  be  a  tax  upon  utilities,  abstracting 
a  real  amount  from  the  funds  of  individuals.  The  same  things 
will  hold  true  concerning  a  great  number  of  commodities.  Pure 
vanity,  and  real  enjoyment,  have  each  a  place,  as  we  have  seen, 
in  the  general  expenditure  of  almost  every  person. 

But  though  tliis  is  true  of  taxes  levied  generally  on  any  class 
of  commodities,  it  yet  not  unfrequently  happens,  that  taxes  on 
commodities  of  the  same  class  may  be  so  ordered  as  to  fall  nearly, 
or  altogether,  on  luxuries.  It  may  be,  though  a  whole  class  of 
commodities  have,  under  the  appearance  of  luxury  they  exhibit, 
a  considerable  substratum  of  real  utility,  that  yet  individuals  of 
the  class,  not  differing  from  others  in  the  quantum  of  utility  they 
possess,  may  have  some  peculiarities  serving  to  afford  a  hold  to 
vanity,  and  to  enable  that  passion  to  raise  their  value  very  high, 
by  making  them  pass  as  marks  of  the  superiority  of  one  man  over 
another.  As  these,  therefore,  differ  from  other  commodities  of 
the  sort,  merely  in  the  amount  of  luxury  embodied  in  them,  a 
tax  on  them  may  be  considered  as  altogether  a  tax  on  luxuries, 
giving  a  revenue  to  the  legislator,  and  taking  nothing  from  the 
society. 

Alcoholic  liquors,  considered  as  a  class,  are  probably,  in  a 
great  degree,  luxuries.  They  may  in  part  be  really  useful,  but 
certainly,  speaking  in  the  general,  their  consumption  is  not 
measured  by  the  utility  resulting  from  it.  Some  of  them,  how- 
ever, agreeing  with  each  other  in  the  amount  of  utility  they  may 
possess,  differ  yet  largely  in  the  quantum  of  luxury  embodied  in 
them.  Thus  it  is,  I  apprehend,  very  difficult  to  say  whether 
rum,  brandy,  whisky,  or  gin,  considering  each  with  regard  to 
its  intrinsic  qualities,  is  the  preferable  liquor.  It  seems  probable 
that  they  are  nearly  alike  in  most  respects,  save  their  being  more 
or  less  luxuries.  In  Great  Britain  rum  is,  I  believe,  at  least 
double  the  price  of  whisky,  and  brandy  still  higher,  the  con- 
sumption, therefore,  of  the  dearer  article  instead  of  the  cheaper, 
must  arise  nearly  altogether  from   vanity.     In  Canada,  again. 


ON  NATIONAL  STOCK.  373 

the  price  at  which  Scotch  whisky  is  sold,  is  double  the  price  of 
rum,  and  considerably  above  the  price  of  brandy.  The  excess 
of  its  price  above  these  other  liquors  must,  therefore,  be  con- 
sidered a  luxury.*  The  chief  part  of  the  high  price  in  England 
of  rum  and  brandy,  is  made  up  of  the  duty  paid  to  the  govern- 
ment. In  this  case,  therefore,  the  legislator  would  seem  to  de- 
rive a  revenue  from  mere  luxuries.  Were  such  duties  withdrawn, 
atid  were  not  the  measure  to  lead  to  an  increased  and  extrava- 
gant consumption  of  alcoholic  liquors  in  general,  it  would  have 
the  effect  of  changing  the  sort  of  liquors  consumed.  Rum  and 
brandy  being  as  cheap  as  whisky,  would  come,  with  many 
people,  to  occupy  the  place  of  it,  they  would  no  longer  afford  a 
peculiar  gratification  to  vanity,  and  that  passion  would  fly  off  to 
some  other  article,  fitted  for  its  purpose,  in  all  probability,  not 
by  the  operations  of  the  legislator,  but  by  the  real  expenditure 
of  labor  or  some  equivalent  to  it.  The  society,  considered  as  a 
body,  would  lose  the  advantages  of  the  revenue  before  at  the 
command  of  the  legislator,  and,  considered  as  individuals,  they 
would  gain  nothing.  Certain  classes  among  them  would  merely 
change  the  form  of  some  of  the  characters,  by  which  they  marked 
to  others  their  relative  means  and  stations. 

It  would  appear,  then,  that  the  powers  of  the  legislator,  when 
prudently  directed  in  the  taxation  of  luxuries,  may  be  so  exer- 
cised as  to  raise  a  considerable  revenue,  without  trenching  at  all 
on  the  incomes  of  individuals.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  his 
proceedings  in  this  way  have  a  greater  chance  of  success,  when 
he  levies  duties  on  foreign,  than  on  domestic  commodities. 
Almost  all  commodities  of  home  manufacture  form  large  classes, 
running  gradually  into  one  another,  and  so  not  easily  discrimi- 
nated, or  affording  any  very  striking  characteristics  to  serve  the 
purposes  of  vanity.  If  we  examine,  for  instance,  the  manufac- 
tures in  Britain  of  cloths,  or  of  malt  liquors,  we  shall  find  in  them 
all  a  great  number  of  commodities  differing  very  little  from  each 
other.  If  a  heavy  duty  be  then  imposed  on  any  of  them,  there 
is  a  considerable  chance  of  its  consumption  greatly  diminishing  or 
ceasing  altogether.     Were  porter  taxed  more  highly  than  other 

*  The  quantity  consumed  is  small,  it  would  in  all  likelihood  be  much  greater 
were  it  not  for  the  difficulty  of  distinguishing  it  from  whisky  of  the  country, 
which  sells  at  less  than  one  fourth  of  the  price.  Scotch  whisky  being  10s 
per  gallon,  Canadian  from  2s  to  3s. 


374  OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR 

malt  liquors,  there  are  so  many  sorts  of  ales  which  very  nearly 
resemble  it,  or  might  be  made  to  do  so,  that  instead  of  being  con- 
verted by  the  tax  into  an  especial  luxury,  it  is  probable  the  con- 
sumption of  porter  would  nearly  cease.  The  imposition  of  a 
high  duty  on  any  particular  sort  of  foreign  wine,  has  not  so  great 
a  tendency  to  diminish  its  consumption  ;  people  would  still  drink 
claret,  however  highly  it  were  taxed,  because  it  has  qualities 
sufficiently  marked  to  distinguish  it  from  other  wines,  and  to 
make,  therefore,  its  consumption  capable  of  denoting  a  degree  of 
present  opulence,  proportioned  to  the  price  it  costs. 

Some  commodities  of  domestic  manufacture  are,  nevertheless, 
much  better  fitted  for  the  operations  of  the  legislator  than  others. 
A  duty,  for  instance,  on  the  finer  textures  of  cottons  and  linens, 
might  perhaps  be  so  levied  as  to  make  it  nearly  altogether  a  tax 
on  luxuries.  The  fineness  of  the  thread  in  these  fabrics,  affords 
a  pretty  conspicuous  mark,  and  by  raising  the  impost  gradually 
in  proportion  to  it,  the  more  delicate  sorts  might,  perhaps,  come 
to  be  esteemed  as  adequate  marks  of  a  capacity  to  expend  largely 
and  so  be  converted  into  especial  luxuries.  In  this  case  part  of 
the  expenditure  of  individuals,  which  is  now  dissipated  in  chang- 
ing fashions,  would  be  made  over  to  the  legislator,  and  might 
suffice  to  sustain  some  part  of  the  public  burdens. 

All  such  duties,  however,  require  to  be  laid  on  very  gradually, 
else  the  consumption  of  the  commodities  on  which  they  are  im- 
posed may  very  probably  be  stopped.  Men  have  generally  a 
very  high  opinion  of  the  reasonableness  of  their  conduct,  and  the 
correctness  of  their  taste.  They  are  apt  to  fancy  that  there  is  a 
real  and  very  great  enjoyment  in  expenses,  which,  in  truth,  have 
scarce  any  thing  to  recommend  them  but  the  gratification  they 
afford  to  vanity.  In  like  manner,  when  any  article  rises  suddenly 
and  greatly  in  price,  when  in  their  power,  they  are  prone  to  adopt 
some  substitute  and  relinquish  the  use  of  it.  In  such  cases  the 
observation  is  forced  on  them,  that  the  commodity  is  no  better 
than  it  was  before,  and  that,  if  then  they  sometimes  used  another 
for  it,  the  best  thing  for  them  now  to  do  is  to  confine  themselves 
altogether  to  that  other.  Hence,  were  a  high  duty  at  once  im- 
posed on  any  particular  wine,  or  any  particular  sort  of  cotton 
fabric,  it  might  have  the  effect  of  diminishing  the  consumption 
very  greatly,  or  stopping  it  entirely.  Whereas,  were  the  tax 
at  first  very  slight,  and  then  slowly  augmented,  the  reasoning 


ON  NATIONAL  STOCK.  375 

powers  not  being  startled,  vanity,  instead  of  flying  off  to  some 
other  objects,  would  be  apt  to  apply  itself  to  them  as  affording  a 
convenient  means  of  gratification. 

The  chief  practical  objection  to  such  imposts,  as  a  source  of 
revenue,  is  the  expense  of  collection  and  the  attempts  generally 
made  to  evade  them.  The  former  diminishes  the  amount  yield- 
ed by  them,  the  latter  is  injurious  to  the  morals  of  the  people. 
Both  are  greater  in  commodities  of  domestic,  than  of  foreign 
manufacture.  In  articles  produced  within  the  country,  it  is 
necessary  to  watch  the  whole  progress  of  manufacture,  and  to 
guard  against  imposition  at  every  stage.  Commodities,  on  the 
other  hand,  imported  from  abroad,  have  only  to  be  watched  at 
the  time  and  place  of  importation. 

There  is  a  case  in  which  duties  imposed  on  foreign  commodi- 
ties, have  particular  advantages.  It  not  unfrequently  happens 
that  in  manufactures  which  it  is  the  object  of  the  legislator  to 
introduce,  and  carry  to  perfection  within  the  society,  the  chief, 
perhaps  the  only  difference,  between  the  enjoyment  afforded  by 
the  foreign  and  by  the  domestic  article  lies  in  the  gratification  the 
former  affords  to  vanity.  This  is  very  generally  the  case  in  all 
commodities  affording  materials  for  such  articles  of  dress  as  are 
seen  by  many,  these  being  always  in  a  great  degree  luxuries.  I 
very  much  question,  for  instance,  whether  the  passage  of  the 
manufacture  of  calicoes  from  Britain  to  America,  has  occasioned 
the  wearers  of  calicoes  in  the  United  States  any  sensible  diminu- 
tion in  the  comfort,  or  in  the  pleasure  arising  from  the  perception 
of  beauty,  afforded  by  such  articles.  The  standard  is  in  such 
cases  altogether  relative,  the  pleasure  given  by  any  particular 
dress  of  this  sort  arising  from  its  being  as  fashionable,  and  as  be- 
coming as  the  dresses  of  other  persons,  or  more  fashionable  and 
more  becoming  than  theirs,  and  the  chief  requisite  for  rendering 
any  fabric  fashionable,  seeming  to  be  that  it  be  costly,  and  have 
novelty.  The  unrestrained  introduction  of  British  or  other  foreign 
calicoes  would,  therefore,  in  all  probability,  have  been  felt,  merely 
as  a  change  in  fashion,  not  as  an  increase  of  pleasure  or  diminu- 
tion of  cost. 

There  are  very  many  similar  cases.  As  the  great  mass  of 
commodities  are  in  part  utilities,  in  part  luxuries,  so,  in  transfer- 
ring the  manufacture  of  any  of  them  from  one  country  to  another, 
it  very  frequently  happens  that,  in  as  far  as  the  article  in  question 


376       OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE   LEGISLATOR,  <fec. 

has  real  utility,  the  domestic  soon  equals  the  foreign  variety.  It 
is  chiefly  in  a  laborious  finish,  for  the  most  part  the  result  of  the 
demands  of  vanity,  that  the  former  falls  behind  the  latter.  In 
such  instances  the  operation  of  transferring  the  art  from  one 
country  to  another,  by  means  of  a  protective  duty,  takes  either 
very  little,  or  nothing,  from  the  revenue  of  individuals,  and  makes, 
it  may  be,  a  considerable  addition  to  that  of  the  legislator.  Its 
general  effects  on  the  funds  of  the  community,  are  directly,  and 
indirectly,  to  advance  the  absolute  capital  of  the  society  by  the 
introduction  of  a  new  art,  and,  during  the  process,  to  give  a  con- 
siderable revenue  to  the  legislator  for  the  attainment  of  public 
objects,  without  encroaching  at  all,  or  but  in  a  very  slight  degree, 
on  the  returns  made  by  the  industry  or  stocks  of  individuals. 


CRA  PTER   III 


OF  OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  INTERFERENCE  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR  IN  THE  CASES 
INDICATED  IN  THE  TWO  PRECEDING  CHAPTERS. 

It  appears,  therefore,  tliat  there  are  at  least  two  modes  by 
which  the  legislator  can  effectively  advance  the  general  stock. 
1st.  By  effecting  the  passage  of  the  useful  arts  from  foreign 
countries  to  his  own :  2d.  By  applying  to  useful  purposes  a 
portion  of  those  funds,  which,  in  all  societies,  are  otherwise  dissi- 
pated in  the  production  of  mere  luxuries. 

To  these  positions  several  objections  may  be  made,  of  which 
some  are  founded  on  the  nature  of  things,  others  arise  almost 
entirely  from  the  ambiguity  of  language. 

It  may,  probably,  occur  to  the  reader,  that  I  have  considered 
the  legislator  as  always  endeavoring  to  act  for  the  good  of  the 
society,  and  capable  of  understanding  what  is  for  its  good, 
whereas,  in  .reality,  the  individual  or  individuals  in  whom  the 
legislative  power  is  vested,  very  often  neither  understand  what  is 
for  the  general  welfare,  nor  act  so  as  to  promote  it.  This  objec- 
tion carries  us  to  the  nature  of  laws  and  government,  and  can, 
therefore,  be  only  very  generally  answered. 

I  would  observe,  then,  that  though  in  other  matters,  as  in 
projects  of  distant  conquest,  or  in  intrigues  for  changing  the  con- 
stitution, the  legislator  may  act  in  opposition  to  the  common 
interests,  yet,  speaking  generally,  in  all  his  proceedings  relative 
to  the  wealth  of  the  community,  it  is  his  aim  to  act  in  accordance 
with  them.  In  despotic  governments  this  is  the  case,  because 
there  the  legislator  looks  on  the  wealth  of  the  people  as  his  own ; 
in  free  governments  because  in  them  his  interests  are  identified 
with  theirs.  It  may  be  that  he  does  not  adopt  judicious  measures 
for  the  purpose,  but  if  so,  it  is  his  judgment,  not  his  will  that  is 
in  fault. 

48 


378  OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR 

Again,  it  must  be  granted  that  the  perfection,  or  imperfection 
of  action  of  the  power  invested  with  legislative  authority,  depends 
chiefly  on  the  prevalence  or  defect,  of  intelligence  and  public 
spirit  throughout  the  community.  Every  government  rests  on 
opinion.  Whenever  the  majority  are  thoroughly  convinced  that 
they  would  derive  advantages  from  a  change  in  the  constitution, 
or  in  the  person  or  persons  administering  it,  the  time  of  a 
revolution  approaches.  It  is  only  from  the  members  of  any 
society  not  perceiving  what  would  be  for  their  good,  or  not 
believing  they  can  find  among  them  men  sufficiently  honest  or 
intelligent  to  execute  what  would  promote  it,  that  the  legislative 
power  can  be  greatly  or  permanently  vicious  or  defective.  There 
is  always  a  close  connexion  between  the  nature  of  the  people 
and  of  the  government.  Despotism  and  anarchy  imply  a  general 
debasement  in  the  intellectual  and  moral  powers ;  freedom  and 
order,  an  elevation  of  them.  The  more  despotic  the  government 
the  more  dependent  on  the  will  or  caprice  of  a  single  person, 
the  more  it  is  subject  to  error  in  all  legislative  measures.  The 
more  despotic  the  government,  however,  the  less  also  the  intel- 
ligence, and  the  greater  the  selfishness,  and  consequently  the 
vanity  of  the  governed.  The  less,  also,  the  inventive  power, 
and  the  advance  in  science  and  art,  and  the  greater  the  addiction 
to  luxury.*  But  the  less  the  comparative  advance  in  science 
and  art,  and  the  greater  the  addiction  to  luxury,  the  greater 
facility  is  given  to  such  operations  of  the  legislator  as  have  for 
their  aim  to  increase  the  wealth  of  the  community.  The  farther 
any  society  is  behind  others  in  a  knowledge  of  the  useful  arts, 
the  greater  the  number  of  new  arts  that  may  be  introduced ;  the 
larger  the  amount  of  luxury  that  prevails  in  it,  the  greater  the 
revenue  that  may  be  raised  by  taxation  without  interfering  with 
individual  income.  Hence,  speaking  generally,  if  legislators  in 
despotic  governments,  were  other  circumstances  equal,  would  be 
more  prone  to  go  wrong;  they  have  there  so  great  facility  in 
acting,  that  they  have  greater  chance  to  go  right. 

A  reference  to  examples  will  make  this  apparent.  If,  for  an 
Instance  of  one  of  the  most  ignorant  and  slavish  of  existing  socie- 
ties, we  turn  to  some  one  of  the  islands  of  the  South  Sea,  it  will 
be  allowed  that  a  legislator  of  intelligence  and  perseverance  might 

*  See  page  321,  322. 


ON  NATIONAL  STOCK.  379 

there  effect  much  good  by  introducing  among  them  the  arts  of 
men  farther  advanced  in  the  career  of  improvement.  Though 
we  cannot  expect  to  find  such  a  legislator  there,  one  would  be 
inclined  to  augur  favorably  of  the  efiects  likely  to  result  from  the 
unskilful  efforts  of  even  any  of  their  barbarous  chiefs,  directed  to 
so  praiseworthy  an  object.  We  should  not  conceive  he  wasted ' 
the  resources  of  his  country,  by  turning  part  of  the  national  funds 
to  such  purposes.  Of  extensive  countries  where  unmitigated 
slavery  and  despotism  prevail,  Egypt  is  perhaps  most  under  the 
eye  of  Europeans.  It  is  not,  however,  commonly  beheved  by 
them,  that  the  projects  of  its  present  ruler  for  the  introduction 
into  it  of  modern  science  and  art,  are  inconsistent  with  the  dictates 
of  sound  policy.  Facts  would  demonstrate  the  fallacy  of  any 
such  supposition.  Errors,  no  doubt,  may  have  been,  and  may 
be  committed,  but  the  good  assuredly  overbalances  the  evil. 
The  revolution  wrought  in  Russia  by  Peter  the  Great,  is  another 
instance  of  the  same  sort.  In  such  cases  the  power  of  the  legis- 
lator to  effect  beneficial  changes  is  so  great,  that  even  his  most 
blundering  efforts  are  seldom  altogether  successless.  A  fruitful 
soil  yields  large  returns,  even  to  a  very  unskilful  husbandman. 
If  we  pass  from  them  to  governments,  of  which  freedom,  intelli- 
gence, and  public  spirit,  are  the  moving  powers,  we  find  there, 
that  though  the  capacity  to  produce  good  is  diminished,  the 
liability  to  error  is  also  diminished.  It  were  folly  in  the  legisla- 
ture of  the  United  States,  to  imagine  itself  capable  of  giving  an 
impulse  so  sudden  and  great,  to  the  resources  of  the  country,  as 
that  brought  about  in  Egypt  by  the  present  Pacha,  or  in  Russia 
by  the  first  Peter.  It  has  the  advantage,  however,  of  being 
much  less  liable  to  error.  Every  important  measure  there  agi- 
tated, before  it  can  be  adopted,  is  subjected  to  the  scrutiny  of  great 
numbers  of  intelligent  and  well  informed  individuals,  stimulated 
alike  by  their  regard  to  their  country  and  to  themselves,  to  trace 
out  with  accuracy  its  future  operation  and  effects.  By  this 
means  the  greatest  security,  of  which  the  nature  of  human  affairs 
admits,  is  given  against  the  adoption  of  impolitic  or  hurtful 
schemes.  With  such  cautions,  the  legislator  may  with  prudence 
undertake  a  series  of  measures,  that,  under  other  circumstances, 
were  of  very  doubtful  expediency. 

In  one  sort  of  government,  therefore,  the  facility  of  action 
gives  warrant  to  act,  and  in  another  the  probable  freedom  from 


380  OF  THE  OPERAIIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR 

error.  In  both  it  is  the  part  of  the  legislator  to  act,  but  to  act 
in  conformity  to  the  laws  arising  from  the  constitution  which  na- 
ture has  given  to  man  and  to  matter.  In  doing  so  instead  of 
acting  in  opposition  to  nature,  he  fills  his  natural  place  in  a  sys- 
tem established  by  nature.  In  both,  also,  it  is  the  part  of  the 
inquirer  into  the  principles  of  politics,  to  endeavor  to  throw  light 
along  the  patli  of  the  legislator,  not  vainly  to  attempt  to  persuade 
him,  that  an  insuperable  obstacle  blocks  it  up. 

Finally,  concerning  this  objection,  it  may  be  observed,  that  it 
refers  to  casual  ills  connected  with  what  is  in  itself  an  acknow- 
ledged good,  and  is  of  a  character  altogether  different  from  those 
springing  from  the  doctrines  of  the  followers  of  Adam  Smith. 
They  hold  up  legislative  interference  as  necessarily  and  essen- 
tially evil. 

The  second  objection  I  have  to  note,  as  resulting  from  the 
nature  of  things  themselves,  is  the  possible  evil  effects  of  an  ex- 
cessive revenue  accruing  to  the  legislator,  from  protecting  and 
encouraging  the  industry  of  the  society  and  turning  into  his 
own  coffers  as  much  as  possible  of  the  amount  otherwise  dissi- 
pated in  luxuries.  A  superabundant  rev^enue  in  the  hands  of 
the  legislator,  though  directly  a  great  good,  is  sometimes,  indi- 
rectly a  great  evil.  It  may  enable  him,  without  any  expense  to 
the  society,  to  carry  on  projects  that  must  otherwise  have  pressed 
heavily  on  its  resources,  but  it  also  places  an  instrument  of  great 
power  in  his  hands,  and  one  which,  in  certain  circumstances,  he 
may  turn  to  very  pernicious  ends.  It  may  have  an  effect  similar 
to  that  which  the  discovery  of  the  western  continent  produced 
on  Spain.  The  direct  effects  of  the  riches  that  flowed  in  from 
the  new  world,  were  mightily  to  increase  the  power  of  the 
Spanish  monarchy.  Indirectly,  however,  their  effects  were  to 
corrupt  the  court  and  the  nobles,  and  to  spread  wide,  through  the 
higher  classes,  a  dissolute,  and  yet  a  mercenary  spirit.  The 
objection,  however,  only  refers  at  all  to  countries  where  there 
are  no  public  burdens  to  absorb  the  surplus  public  revenue.  It 
is,  consequently,  totally  inapplicable  to  Great  Britain.  It  also 
chiefly  refers  to  countries  where  there  are  no  efficient  checks  to 
abuses  of  the  legislative  or  executive  powers.  This,  too,  it  may 
be  observed,  is  an  objection  which,  as  far  as  I  know,  has  not 
been  urged  by  modern  political  economists. 

The  objections,  which  have  their  foundation  in  the  views  of 


ON  NATIONAL  STOCK.  33^ 

the  subject  presented  by  Adam  Smith,  and  which  are  urged  by 
his  present  followers,  depend  mainly  on  the  nature  of  words,  and 
the  sophisms  produced  by  a  generalization  from  names  instead  of 
things  —  from  preconceived  notions  which  verbally,  but  not  really, 
embrace  the  phenomena.  Terms,  and  so,  also,  reasonings,  fitly 
applied  to  the  operations  of  individuals  in  the  preservation,  enjoy- 
ment, and  increase  of  wealth,  are  transferred  immediately  to 
societies,  and  the  rules  and  principles  which  hold  good  in  the 
one,  are  assumed  to  be  exactly  applicable  to  the  other.  If  what 
is  thus  taken  for  granted  be  admitted,  farther  discussion  is  un- 
necessary, for  the  truth  of  the  proposition  to  be  proved,  is  implied 
in  the  terms  in  which  it  is  enunciated.  It  has  been  my  aim, 
throughout  the  preceding  pages,  to  expose  the  fallacy  of  these 
assumptions,  and,  consequently,  of  the  arguments  resting  on  them. 
It  is  only  necessary  for  me  here,  then,  to  state  very  shortly  the 
objections,  and  the  answers  to  them. 

It  is  said  capital  can  only  augment  by  accumulation,  and, 
as  the  interference  of  the  legislator  takes  somethino-  from  indi- 
vidual  revenue,  it  must  also  take  from  the  power  to  accumulate, 
and,  consequently,  instead  of  augmenting,  must  tend  to  diminish 
the  sum  of  the  capitals  of  all  the  individuals  in  the  society,  that  is 
the  national  capital  or  stock.  This  objection  proceeds  on  two 
assumptions,  the  first,  that  the  nature  of  national  capital,  or  stock, 
about  which  the  whole  discussion  turns,  which  it  is  the  object  of 
the  inquiry  to  investigate,  and  concerning  which  scarce  two 
authors  of  note  agree  in  opinion,  is  known  previously  to  any 
investigation,  and  is  precisely  identical  with  the  notion  suggested 
by  the  same  term  apphed  to  individual  wealth.  The  second, 
that  what  is  generally  true  concerning  individual  capital,  is 
universally  true  concerning  national  capital,  and  that,  as  the 
former  commonly  augments  by  accumulation,  the  latter  can  do 
so  in  no  other  manner. 

The  answer  to  this  objection  is,  that  the  proceedings  of  the 
legislator  may  increase  the  absolute  capital  and  stock  of  the 
society,  the  provision,  that  is,  for  future  wants,  embodied  in  the 
stock  of  instruments  possessed  by  it,  though  they  may  not 
increase,  and  may  even  a  little  diminish  its  relative  capital,  or  the 
sum  which  would  be  brought  out  by  measuring  those  instruments 
with  one  another.  That  it  is  the  amount  of  the  absolute  capital 
of  the  society,  which  is  the  proper  measure  of  the  wealth  of  the 


382  OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATOR 

whole,  and  of  each  individual,  and  that  whatever  augments  it  not 
only  directly,  and  of  itself,  advances  national  wealth,  but  ulti- 
mately, also,  does  so  indirectly,  through  the  stimulus  given  to 
the  accumulative  principle,  and  the  addition  thence  arising  to 
relative  capital. 

This  objection  and  the  answer  to  it  apply  to  utilities.  The 
second  objection  refers  to  the  proceedings  of  the  legislator  con- 
cerning commodities  wholly  or  in  part  luxuries.  It  proceeds  on 
the  same  assumption,  that  what  is  true  concerning  the  wealth  of 
individuals,  and  sufficiently  explains  its  increase  and  diminution, 
is  also  true  concerning  the  wealth  of  societies,  and  fully  explains 
the  causes  of  its  increase  and  diminution. 

If,  other  circumstances  remaining  unaltered,  a  single  individual 
in  a  society  acquires  the  power  of  purchasing  some  article  enter- 
ing into  his  system  of  consumption,  at  less  cost  than  before,  he 
is  by  so  much  a  gainer,  and  the  change  is  equivalent  to  a  propor- 
tional increase  in  revenue.  Transferring  this  fact  to  societies,  it 
is  held  that  the  revenue  of  every  society  is  increased  in  exact 
proportion  to  the  diminution  in  the  cost  of  any  article  entering 
into  its  system  of  consumption,  and  diminished  in  proportion  to 
the  increase  in  the  cost  of  any  such  article.  By  how  much, 
therefore,  any  operations  of  the  legislator  add  to  the  price  of  any 
commodity,  by  so  much,  it  is  said,  they  always,  and  in  every 
case,  take  from  the  revenue  of  the  society.  When,  therefore, 
by  taxing  foreign  luxuries,  the  legislator  raises  their  price,  it  is 
asserted  that  he  proportionally  diminishes  the  general  revenue. 

The  answer  to  this  objection  is,  that  though  as  every  com- 
modity consumed  by  an  individual,  derives  the  estimation  in 
which  it  is  held  from  something  in  some  most  complicated  system 
of  persons  and  things  constituting  the  society  of  which  he  is  a 
member,  while  that  system  remains  in  all  its  parts  unchanged, 
whatever  gives  him  the  command  of  a  greater  portion  of  the 
particular  commodity  than  before,  necessarily  increases  the 
amount  of  commodities,  which,  compared  with  others,  he  pos- 
sesses, and  thus  makes  him,  as  compared  with  them,  so  much 
richer;  yet,  if  any  commodity  become  universally  cheaper 
throughout  a  whole  society,  as  this  implies  a  change  to  a  certain 
extent  in  the  system  of  things,  comprehended  with  persons  in 
the  term  society,  it  may  be  that  the  revolution  may  affect  the 
causes  giving  estimation  to  the  commodity  in  question,  and  that. 


ON  NATIONAL  STOCK.  383 

until  we  know  whether  or  not  this  be  the  case,  and  how  it  oper- 
ates, we  act  with  unwarrantable  rashness  in  transferring  rules 
true  concerning  individuals,  to  societies,  and  in  asserting  that  a 
general  diminution  in  cost,  is,  in  all  cases,  equivalent  to  a  general 
increase  of  revenue,  or  a  general  augmentation  of  cost,  to  a  general 
diminution  of  revenue.  That  if  there  be  any  class  of  commodi- 
ties, the  estimation  of  which  depends  wholly,  or  in  part,  on  their 
power  to  mark  the  possession  of  a  certain  relative  superiority, 
or  a  command  greater  or  less  of  the  labor  of  other  men,  then  the 
generally  diminished  cost  of  such  commodities,  lessening  their 
power  to  mark  the  desired  distinction,  and  taking  thus  in  a  like 
degree  from  that  for  which  they  were  altogether,  or  in  part, 
esteemed,  either  makes  no  change  in  the  general  revenue,  or  a 
smaller  change  than  that  indicated  by  the  amount  of  the  diminu- 
tion. That  such  commodities  serving  merely,  as  Mr.  Storch 
expresses  it,  for  marks  of  opulence,  their  fitness  for  the  purpose 
is  diminished  as  their  cost  becomes  less,  and,  therefore,  a  dimi- 
nution of  their  cost  produces  no  increase,  or  no  proportionate 
increase,  of  general  revenue,  and  an  increase  of  it,  no  diminution, 
or  no  proportionate  diminution  of  general  revenue.  That  thus, 
though,  were  the  power  of  procuring  a  string  of  pearls  for  a  few 
hours  labor  given  to  any  individual  European,  it  might  very  greatly 
increase  his  wealth,  yet,  the  same  power  given  to  all  Europeans, 
would  produce  no  increase,  or  no  proportional  increase  to  Euro- 
pean wealth,  and,  on  the  contrary,  as  the  facility  of  purchase 
by  putting  the  wearing  of  peals  out  of  fashion,  would  probably 
render  the  stock  of  these  articles  in  the  possession  of  individuals, 
valueless,  it  would,  in  all  probability,  proportionably  diminish 
the  amount  of  wealth  actually  existing.* 

*  It  is  remarkable  that  neither  Adam  Smith,  nor  Mr.  Say,  nor  Mr.  Storch,. 
although  they  have  stated  distinctly  enough  in  various  places,  that  many 
commodities  derive  their  whole,  or  the  greater  part  of  their  value,  from  the 
gratification  they  afford  to  vanity,  —  their  power  to  mark  the  superiority  of 
one  man  over  another,  —  seem  to  have  perceived  that  the  admission  was  fatal 
to  the  majority  of  their  theoretical  conclusions.  They  consequently  have  not 
thought  it  necessary  to  adduce  any  reasons  to  show  that  the  operations  of  the 
legislator,  on  such  commodities,  may  not  have  the  beneficial  effects  indicated 
in  the  text.     Mr.  Say,  indeed,  has  the  following  passage. 

"  De  ce  que  le  prix  est  la  mesure  de  la  valeur  des  choses,  et  de  ce  que  leur 
valeur  est  la  mesure  de  leur  utilite,  il  ne  foudrait  pas  tirer  la  consequence 
absurde  qu'  en  faisant  monter  leur  prix  par  la  violence,  on  accroit  leur  utilite. 
La  valeur  echangeable  ou  apprecative  nest  une  indication  de  I'utilite  donnee 


384  OF  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE   LEGISLATOR 

If  the  legislator,  by  an  arbitrary  and  secret  act,  could  impose 
a  duty  on  the  share  of  any  commodity  consumed  by  an  individual, 
the  rest  of  the  community  going  free,  that  individual  would  un- 
doubtedly be  exactly  so  much  a  loser.  It  would  be  to  him  a 
matter  of  indifference  what  the  commodity  in  question  were.  If 
the  circumstances  of  his  condition  obliged  his  wife  to  wear  jewels, 
or  him  to  have  a  supply  of  claret  on  his  table,  an  arbitrary  impost 
of  the  sort  on  the  claret  he  consumed,  or  the  jewels  his  wife 
wore,  would  probably  be  to  him  equivalent,  to  a  like  exaction 
on  coals  or  bread.  In  the  same  way,  a  secret  remission  to  a 
single  individual  of  the  duty  levied  on  any  article,  would  be  just 
so  much  gain  to  him. 

The  fundamental  error  on  this  subject  of  Adam  Smith,  and 
the  present  prevailing  school  of  political  economists  in  England, 
lies,  in  their  assuming,  that  what  is  true  concerning  an  individual, 
is  true,  also,  concerning  a  community,  and  maintaining,  conse- 
quently, that  every  impost  is  so  much  absolute  loss  to  the  society, 
and  every  diminution  of  it,  so  much  gain.  Before  this  assump- 
tion can  be  made  good,  with  regard  to  any  particular  impost,  it  is 
necessary  that  the  three  following  questions  concerning  it  should 
be  determined. 

1st.  Will  the  duty  so  levied,  by  directly  or  indirectly  effecting 
an  improvement  in  the  arts,  increase  the  absolute  capital  of  the 
society  ? 

2d.  Will  it  prevent  future  waste,  by  the  transfer  of  an  art  pro- 
ducing useful  commodities,  the  supply  of  which  is  liable  to  sud- 
den interruptions  ? 

3d.  Does  it  fall  partly  or  altogether  on  luxuries,  and  is  its  real 
effect,  consequently,  not  to  diminish,  by  so  much,  the  annual  reve- 
nue of  the  society,  but  only  to  apply  a  part  of  it,  which  would 

de  la  production  reelle,  qu'autant  que  cette  valeur  est  abandonnee  a  elle  meme 
et  que  Taction  des  hommes  qui  font  un  marchc  est  entierenient  libra ;  de 
meme  qu'une  barometre  n'indique  la  pensateur  de  1' atmosphere,  qu'autant 
que  le  mercure  pent  s'y  mouvoir  avec  facilitu."     p.  5.  vol.  I. 

So  far  as  the  above  is  applicable  to  luxuries,  it  is  evidently  nothing  but  an 
ipse  dixi  dressed  in  a  metaphor,  —  a  sort  of  argument  too  economical  to  admit 
of  an  answer.  If  luxm-y,  "  Luxe  de  I'ostcntation,"  be,  as  Mr.  Say  himself 
says,  "  une  consommation  qui  n'a  pour  objet  que  cette  depense  meme ;  una 
destruction  de  valeur  qui  ne  se  propose  d'autre  but  que  cette  destruction,"  * 
it  surely  matters  not  to  the  consumer  how  this  value  be  given  to  the  com 
modity. 

*  Vol   H.  p.  995. 


ON  NATIONAL  STOCK.  385 

Otherwise  have  been  dissipated  by  vanity,  to  supply  funds  for 
the  necessary  expenditure  of  the  legislator  ? 

Unless  these  questions  can  be  all  answered  in  the  negative, 
the  assumed  parallel  between  the  effects  of  an  impost  on  an 
individual,  and  on  a  community,  does  not  hold,  and  the  whole 
reasonino;  founded  on  it  falls  to  the  ground. 


49 


NOTES 


NOTE   A .     Pase  1 


D 


"We  derive  from  Dr.  Smith  no  assistance  in  forming  our  opinions 
^n  this  important  subject;  for  he  seems  to  have  had  no  fixed  ideas 
in  relation  to  it.  Indeed,  there  is  no  opinion  that  has  been  any 
where  maintained  on  the  subject  of  the  sources  of  national  wealth, 
which  does  not  appear  to  have  been  adopted  in  different  parts  of 
the  Inquiry  into  the  Wealth  of  Nations. 

1.  "  The  annual  labor  of  every  nation  is"  at  one  time  stated  to 
be  "  the  fund  which  originally  supplies  it  with  all  the  necessaries 
and  conveniences  of  life  which  it  annually  consumes,  and  which 
consists  always  either  in  the  immediate  produce  of  that  labor,  or  in 
what  is  purchased  with  that  produce  from  other  nations."  * 

2.  Lands,  mines,  and  fisheries,  elsewhere  are  regarded  as  repla- 
cing, "  with  a  profit,  not  only  the  capitals  employed  in  them,  but 
all  the  other  capitals  employed  in  the  community."  t  That,  how- 
ever, which  replaces  all  the  capitals  employed  in  the  community, 
and  is  the  source  from  whence  they  derive  their  profit,  must  be  the 
sole  source  of  wealth.  Mankind  are,  therefore,  here  considered  as 
deriving  the  whole  of  their  wealth  from  land.  | 

3.  Again,  plain  reason  is  stated  to  dictate,  that  the  real  wealth  of 
a  country  consists  in  the  annual  produce  of  its  land  and  labor ; 
and  this  opinion,  which  coincides  with  that  of  the  Bishop  of  Cloyne,§ 
and  the  learned  author  |1  of  the  Essay  on  Money  and  Coin,  is  most 
generally  adhered  to  by  Dr.  Smith. 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  vol.  I.  p  1.  4to.  edit.  This  opinion  is  maintained  by 
Mr.  Hume.     See  his  Discourse  of  Commerce,  p.  12.  edit.  1752. 

f  Wealth  of  Nations,  vol.  I.  p.  338.  4to.  edit. 

t  Ibid,  vol.  I   p.  414. 

§  Querist.  Quer.  4.  "  Whether  the  four  elements,  and  man's  labor  therein, 
be  not  the  true  source  of  wealth." 

II  "  Land  and  labor  together  are  the  sources  of  all  wealth,  Avithout  a  com- 
petency of  land,  there  would  be  no  subsistence ;  and  but  a  very  poor  and  un- 
comfortable one  without  labor.  So  that  wealth  or  riches  consist  either  in  a 
property  in  land,  or  in  the  products  of  land  and  labw. 


388  NOTES. 

4.  In  another  part  of  the  work,  however,  we  find  it  asserted,  that 
"  land  and  capital  stock  are  the  two  original  sources  of  all  reve- 
nue, both  private  and  public :  capital  stock  pays  the  wages  of  pro- 
ductive labor,  whether  employed  in  agriculture,  manufactures,  or 
commerce."  *  Land  and  capital  are,  therefore,  here  deemed  the 
sole  sources  of  wealth ;  and  labor  is  considered  as  deriving  from 
them  its  wages,  without  adding  to  the  opulence  of  the  community. 

5.  Lastly,  we  are  taught  to  consider  land,  labor,  and  capital,  as 
being  all  three  sources  of  wealth;  for  we  are  told  that,  "whoever 
derives  his  revenue  from  a  fund  that  is  his  own,  must  draw  it  either 
from  his  labor,  his  stock,  or  his  land.  The  revenue  derived  from 
labor  is  called  wages;  that  from  stock,  profit;  and  from  land, 
rent;"t  an  opinion  which  seems  to  have  been  hinted  at  by  Sir 
William  Petty, |  when  he  stated  it  as  an  impediment  to  the  wealth 
of  England,  that  taxes  were  not  levied  upon  lands,  stock,  and  labor, 
but  chiefly  upon  land  alone,  though  land  and  labor  are  generally 
considered  by  that  ingenious  writer  as  the  sole  source  of  wealth. 

In  treating  of  political  economy,  the  science  which  professes  to 
display  and  to  teach  means  of  increasing  the  wealth  of  a  state,  it 
would  seem  that  the  first  and  most  anxious  object  of  inquiry  ought 
to  have  been,  what  wealth  is,  and  from  what  sources  mankind  de- 
rive it?  for  it  appears  impossible  to  discuss  with  precision  the  means 
of  increasing  any  thing,  without  an  accurate  notion  of  its  nature 
and  of  its  origin. "     Lauderdale. 

To  this  catalogue  of  the  various  notions  held  out  in  the  Wealth 
of  Nations,  concerning  the  nature  of  that  wealth.  Lord  Lauderdale 
might  have  added  another,  showing  some  general  resemblance  to 
that  exhibited  in  the  present  work.  "Wealth,"  we  are  told,  B.  V. 
c.  i.,  "always  follows  improvements  of  agriculture  and  manufac- 
tures, and  is,  in  reality,  no  more  than  the  accumulated  produce  of 
those  improvements." 


B.     Page  4. 


<i 


Si  r  on  se  demande  en  effet  en  quoi  consiste  la  ricliesse,  on 
n'est  pas  pen  surpris  de  ne  trouver  dans  les  auteurs  les  plus  estimes 
que  des  opinions  differentes  ou  contraires. 

"Les  uns  la  font  consister  dans  I'universalite  des  proprietes 
privees,^  et  d'autres  dans  I'abondance  des  denrees.  || 

"  Ceux-la  distinguent  la  richesse  publique  de  la  richesse  particu- 
liere,  donnent  a  la  premiere  une  valeur  d^usage  et  non  d^ eeliange, 
et  a  la  seconde  une  valeur  d'echange  et  non  d'usage,  et  font  consister 
cette  derniere  dans  la  valeur  venale  du  jij'oduit  ?iet.^ 

*  Wealth  of  Nations,  vol.  II.  p.  5G0. 
]  Wealth  of  Nations,  vol.  II  p.  C3. 
t  Tracts,  edit.  1768,  p.  2t;3. 

§  Treatise  of  taxes  by  William  Petty  —  Gregory  King  calculation,  piib- 
lished  by  Davenant  —  Becke  observations  on  the  produce  of  the  income  tax. 
II  Dime  royale  du  marechal  de  Vauban. 
II  Physiocratie,  p.  lib — Philosophic  rurale,  p.  60. 


NOTES.  389 

"  Ceux-ci  la  composent  de  toiites  les  choses  materielles  dont 
I'homme  peut  faire  usage  pour  satisfaire  un  besoin  ou  une  jouis- 
sance  de  sensualite,  de  fantaisie  ou  de  vanite.* 

"  Un  autre  ecrivain  regarde  la  richesse  comme  la  jwssession 
d'une  chose  plus  desirec  par  ccuz  qui  nc  Vont  pas  que  par  ccux  qui 
enjouissentA 

"  Un  autre  ecrivain  la  definit  le  supcrjlu.\ 

"  Un  autre  ecrivain  la  place  dans  I'accuraulation  du  travail  exisi- 
ble.§  .        .  ] 

"  Adam-Smith  dit  tantot  qu'un  homme  est  riche  ou  pauvre  selon 
le  plus  ou  moins  de  choses  necessaires,  utiles  ou  agreables  a  la  vie 
dont  il  peut  se  procurer  la  jouissance  ;  tantot  qu'un  homme  est  riche 
ou  pauvre  selon  qu'il  peut  disposer  de  plus  ou  moins  de  travail ; 
tantot  que  la  richesse  reelle  d'un  pays  consists  dans  le  produit 
annuel  de  ses  terres  et  de  son  travail. || 

"  Un  ecrevain  recent  definit  la  richesse,  tout  ce  que  I'homme 
desire  comme  utile  et  agreable.^ 

"  Les  richesses,  dit  M.  Say,  se  composent  des  choses  qui  ont  une 
valeur.** 

"  M.  Ricardo  pense  que  la  valeur  differe  essentiellement  de  la 
richesse,  et  que  les  choses,  une  fois  qu'elles  sont  reconnues  utiles 
par  elles-memes,  tirent  leur  valeur  echangeable  de  deux  sources, 
de  leur  rarete,  et  de  la  quantite  de  travail  necessaire  pour  les  ac- 
querir.ft 

"  M.  Sismondi  definit  la  richesse,  le  fruit  du  travail  accumule  et 
non  encore  consomme. If 

"  Cette  incertitude  sur  la  nature  de  la  richesse  se  reproduit  dans 
I'examen  des  moyens  qui  peuvent  contribuer  a  sa  progression,  a 
son  accroissement  et  a  sa  grandeur. 

"  Ceux  qui  ont  ecrit  les  premiers  sur  cette  matiere  importante, 
seduits  par  I'apparence  des  faits,  ont  attribue  aux  metaux  precieux, 
obtenus  en  retour  de  I'exportation  des  produits  du  sol  et  de  Indus- 
trie de  chaque  pays,  la  cause  de  la  richesse  des  peuples.^^ 

*  Essai  sur  la  nature  du  commerce,  par  Cantillon.  —  Abrege  des  princi- 
pes  d'cconomie  politique,  par  M.  le  senateur  Germain  Garnier,  Paris,  179G. 
M.  Malthus,  Principes  d'economie  politique  consideres  par  rapport  a  leurs  ap- 
plications practiques  (page  23.) 

t  Richezza  e  il  possesso  d'alcuna  cosa  che  sia  piu  desiderata  dal  altri  che  dal 
possessore,  Galiani,  della  Moneta. 

t  II  superfiuo  costituisce  la  richezza,  Palmieri,  publica  Felicity,  tonje  I. 
page  155. 

§  Princ.  d'econ.  polit.,  par  M.  Canard,  Paris,  1801. 

II  Rich,  des  nat.,  in-4to.  vol.  I.  pag.  209  et  338. 

11  An  inquiry  into  the  nature  and  origin  of  public  wealth,  by  Earl  of  Lau- 
derdale, chap.  2.  page  56  et  57. 

*"  Traite  d'econ.  polit.,  page  1. 

tf  Des  principes  de  I'economie  politique  et  de  I'impot,  tome  II.  chap.  20. 

tf  Nouveaux  principes  d'economie  politique,  tome  I.  page  60. 

§§  En  Angleterre,  Raleigh,  Essai  sur  le  commerce,  en  1595.  —  Edouard 
MissELDEiv',  Cercle  du  commerce,  en  1623.  —  Louis  Roberts,  Tresor  du 
trafic,  en  1G4I.  —  Thomas  Munn,  Tresor  de  I'Anglelerre  pour  le  commerce 
etranger.  en  1604.  —  Fortrey,  Interuts  et  ameliorations  de  I'Angleterre,  en 
1664.  —  Davenant,  dans  son  ouvrage  relatif  au  commerce  et  au  revenu  de 
I'Angleterre,  tome  1.  page  16,  en  1696.  —  M.  Martin,  inspecteur-general  des 
douanes,  ou  le  Marchand  anglais,  en  1713. 


390  NOTES. 

"D'autres  ecrivains  en  ont  place  la  source  dans  la  reduction  de 
I'interet  de  I'argent.* 

"  Les  economistes,  entraines  par  una  theorie  seduisante  et  cap- 
tieuse,  ont  exalte  le  systeme  agricole.t 

"Adam-Smith  lui  a  prefere  le  travail  qui  se  perfectionne  par  sa 
division,  et  qui,  apres  qu'il  est  fini,  se  fixe  et  se  realise  dans  un  ob- 
jet  permanent.:^ 

'•  Lord  Lauderdale,  dans  I'ouvrage  precite,  ouvrage  remarquable 
par  la  finesse  de  ses  aper^us,  fait  deriver  la  richesse  de  I'art  de  sim- 
plifier  et  d'abreger  le  travail  et  d'ameliorer  ses  produits,  resultat 
necessaire  de  I'accumulation  et  de  la  direction  des  capitaux. 

"  M.  Say  fait  deriver  la  plus  grande  augmentation  de  la  richesse, 
de  I'emploi  des  capitaux  dans  I'agriculture.^ 

"  De  I'union  des  systemes  d' agriculture  et  de  commerce,  dit  M. 
Malthus,  depend  la  plus  grande  prosperite  nationale.|| 

"  M.  Ricardo  est  d'avis  que  la  richesse  d'un  pays  s'accroit  de 
deux  manieres :  par  I'emploi  d'une  portion  plus  considerable  du 
revenue  a  I'accroissement  du  travail  productif,  ou  en  rendant  plus 
productive  celle  qui  existe.^f 

"  M.  Sismondi  ne  voit  I'accroissement  des  richesses  que  dans 
I'accroissement  des  jouissances  nationales."  **  Ganilh  des  Systems, 
Tome  1.  p.  14. 


C.     Page  8. 

At  the  time  the  reference  to  this  note  was  made,  it  was  my  inten- 
tion to  have  here  inserted  some  extracts  from  the  North  American 
Review,  and  some  other  publications,  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
the  views  entertained  in  this  country  concerning  the  system  of 
Adam  Smith,  and  some  of  his  followers.  As  far  as  concerns  this 
continent,  however,  these  extracts  would  be  superfluous,  and  I  have, 
therefore,  thought  it  better  to  omit  them,  until  such  time  as  the 
work  appear  in  Great  Britain. 

En  Hollande,  Jean  de  Witt,  Memoires,  en  1669. 

En  Italie,  Serra,  Breve  traltato  delle  cose  die  possono  far  abondare  li  regni 
d'oro,  en  1613.  —  Genovesi,  Lezioni  di  econom.  civile,  en  1764.  —  Muratori, 
Felicita  pub.,  cap.  16,  sul  principio.  —  Corniani,  Reflez.  sul  le  monote. 

En  France,  le  cardinal  de  Richelieu  et  Colbert,  ordonnances  et  regle- 
mens  pendant  leur  administration. 

*  Thomas  Culpeper's  useful  remark  on  the  mischief  of  an  high  national 
interest,  en  1641.  —  Josias  Child,  brief  observations  concerning  trade  and 
interest  of  money,  en  1651.  —  Samuel  Lamb-For  Banks  and  lumber  houses, 
en  1657.  — William  Patterson,  auteur  du  Projct  de  la  banque  de  Londres, 
en  1694,  et  Barnard,  dans  ses  Discours  sur  la  reduction  de  rintcret  de  I'ar- 
gent, en  1714. 

t  Physiocratio. 

I  Richesse  des  nations,  liv.  11.  chap.  3.  —  David  Hume  pent  avoir  donno  i 
Adam-Smith  I'ideo  de  ce  systeme.  II  dit  litteralement  que  les  homnies  ne 
peuvent  acqucrir  que  par  le  travail.  (Essai  sur  le  commerce,  edit.  d'Edim- 
bourg,  1804,  in  8vo.  vol.  I.  page  277.) 

§  Ibid.,  tome  II.  page  231. 

II  Addition  aux  quatre  premieres  editions  de  I'Essai  sur  la  population, 
chap. 1 1 . 

II  Ibid. 

**  Id.,  tome  I.  page  53. 


NOTES.  391 

D.     Page  18. 

Adam  Smith  here  admits,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  correctness  of 
the  general  notions  concerning  the  nature  and  ofRce  of  money, 
entertained  by  the  school  of  political  economists  who  preceded  Hume. 
Had  he  done  otherwise  he  would  have  acted  very  unfairly,  for  his 
own  reasonings,  on  this  subject,  are  sometimes  little  more  than  a 
repetition  of  theirs,  as  might  be  shown  by  an  examination  of  parallel 
passages.  Compare,  for  instance,  the  two  following.  "  Although 
they  who  have  their  estates  in  money  are  said  to  be  a  great  number, 
and  to  be  worth  ,£5,000  or  o€10,000  per  annum,  more  or  less,  which 
amounts  to  many  millions  in  all,  yet  are  they  not  possessed  thereof 
altogether  at  once,  for  it  were  vanity  or  against  their  profit  to  keep 
continually  in  their  hands  above  £40  or  ,£50  in  a  family  to  defray 
necessary  charges.  The  rest  must  ever  run  from  man  to  man  in 
traffic  for  their  benefit,  whereby  we  may  conceive  that  a  little 
money  (being  made  the  measure  of  all  our  other  means)  doth  rule 
and  distribute  great  matters  daily  to  all  men  in  their  just  propor- 
tions."* "  As  the  same  guinea  which  pays  the  weekly  pension  of 
one  man  to  day,  may  pay  that  of  another  tomorrow,  and  that  of  a 
third  the  day  thereafter,  the  amount  of  the  metal  pieces  which 
annually  circulate  in  any  country  must  always  be  of  much  less  value 
than  the  whole  money  pensions  annually  paid  with  them."t 

The  more  recent  followers  of  Adam  Smith  have  not  always  done 
the  earlier  writers  equal  justice.  Thus  Mr.  McCulloch,  in  his  Princi- 
ples of  Political  Economy,  asserts  that  the  mercantile  system,  of  which 
he  esteems  Mun  one  of  the  earliest  and  ablest  defenders,  reckoned 
money  the  only  wealth,  and  remarks,  that  "  the  simple  consideration, 
that  all  buying  and  selling  is  in  reality  nothing  more  than  the  barter- 
ing of  one  commodity  for  another,  —  of  a  certain  quantity  of  corn  or 
wool,  for  example,  for  a  certain  quantity  of  gold  or  silver,  and  vice 
versa,  was  entirely  overlooked."  Now  instead  of  considering 
money  as  the  only  wealth,  Mun,  on  the  contrary,  says,  "  they  that 
have  wares  cannot  want  money ;  —  neither  is  it  that  money  is  the 
life  of  trade  as  if  it  could  not  subsist  without  the  same ;  for  we 
know  that  there  was  great  trading  by  way  of  commutation  or  barter, 
when  there  was  little  money  stirring  in  the  world."  |  That  the 
true  use  of  money  is  its  affording  a  fixed  standard  for  the  price  of 
other  things,  is  a  doctrine,  indeed,  laid  down  by  Bodin  a  century 
earlier  than  Mun.  "  Car  si  la  monoye,  qui  doit  regler  le  prix  de 
loutes  choses  est  muable  et  incertaine,  il  n'y  a  personne  qui  puisse 
fair  estat  au  vray  de  ce  qu'il  a;  les  contracts  seront  incertains  les 
changes  taxes  gages,  &c.  incertaines."  &c.§  The  real  error  of 
those  writers  was  their  transferring  to  national  wealth  the  rules 
which  apply  to  individual  wealth ;  it  was  I  apprehend,  therefore, 
the  same  in  kind  as  I  have  hinted  in  the  text,  as  that  of  Adam 
Smith  himself,  though  different  from  it  in  degree. 

*  Mun,  p.  42,  12mo.  edit.,  he  published  in  1664. 

t  Wealth  of  Nations,  B.  II.  c.  ii. 

t  Ibid.  p.  24. 

§  De  la  Republique,  liv.  VI. 


392  NOTES. 


E.     Page  87. 

"  Oufifs  ou  instrumens  de  metier.  Jamais  mot  n'a  recu  une  ac- 
ception  plus  etendue  que  celle  que  je  voudrais  donner  ici  au  terme 
d'outils,  car  je  desirerais  y  coraprendre  depuis  la  fronde  dont  se 
sert  le  chasseur  sauvage  jusqu'a  la  machine  la  plus  vaste,  jusqu'au 
mecanisme  le  plus  complique,  jusqu'aux  etres  animes  memes  qui 
facilitent  le  travail  de  I'homme.  L'enclume  du  forgeron  et  le  metier 
pour  faire  des  bas,  les  aiguilles  de  la  lingere  et  les  pompes  a  feu, 
les  navires  et  les  betes  de  somme  et  de  trait ;  en  un  mot,  tout  pro- 
duit  materiel  de  la  nature  et  du  travail,  tout  objet  vivant  ou  inanime 
que  I'homme  emploie  pour  s'aider  dans  son  travail  industriel,  voila 
ce  que  j'appelle  outils,  instrumens  de  metier.  Ce  mot,  dans  son 
sens  le  plus  etendu,  n'exclut  que  les  constructions."  *  Starch,  vol. 
I.  p.  231. 


F.     Page  153. 

"  Memorial  dans  lequel  ou  propose  a  I'Empereur  un  moyen  de 
secourir  le  peuple  dans  les  annees  steriles."  {Lettres  Edifiantes, 
Tom.  XL  p.  427.) 

Lieou-que-y,  (the  Mandarin  who  memorializes,)  after  narrating 
the  miseries  suffered  from  famine  in  the  province  Chansi,  from 
which  he  dates,  and  stating  the  insufficiency  of  the  ancient  provi- 
sions of  the  empire,  which  suppose  a  quantity  of  rice  to  be  stored 
up  in  the  imperial  magazines,  sufficient  for  all  emergencies,  but 
which  are  neglected  by  the  superior  Mandarines,  from  the  multi- 
plicity of  the  affairs  they  have  to  manage,  or  abused  by  their  de- 
pendents, and  which  are,  in  fact,  regarded  as  obsolete ;  proceeds 
•  to  state  his  own  scheme  for  obviating,  in  future,  similar  calamities. 

"Ne  seroit-il  done  pas  a  propos  de  profiter  de  ce  temps  d'abon- 
dance  pour  remplir  de  grains  les  greniers  publics,  en  les  payant  de 
I'argent  tire  du  tresor  de  votre  majeste  1  par  exemple,  supposons  que 
pendant  cinq  ans  on  y  prit  chaque  annee  quatre  cent  mille  francs, 
destinees  a  ces  provisions  pour  soulager  le  peuple  dans  les  besoins 
pressans.  On  emploira  d'abord  cent  mille  francs  pour  reparer  les 
anciens  magazines  de  Tay-quen,  capital  de  la  province,  pour  en 
batir  de  nouveaux,  et  pour  amasser  du  riz,  afin  d'assister  dans  le 
temps  de  sterilite  le  territoire  de  cette  ville,  de  Fuen-tchou  et  autres 
lieux  qui  n'en  sont  font  eloignes.  Du  cote  du  midi  est  la  ville  de 
Pincr-vanor.  de  Kinff-tcheou,  et  autres  endroits  circonvoisins.  La 
grande  ville  de  Laugan  est  situee  vers  I'occident;  en  y  faisant  la 
meme  depense,  ou  sera  en  etat  de  distribuer  du  riz  a  Ke-tcheau,  a 
Leao-tcheau,  et  autres  villes  subalternes  de  sa  dependance.     Enfin 

*  "  Pourquoi  les  exclure  ?  Les  constructions  sont  des  produits  de  I'industrie 
humaine  consacres  a  la  reproduction ;  partant  ce  sont  des  outils.  Un  champ 
lui-ni('ine  est  un  outil  qui  ne  differe  des  autres  qu'en  ce  qu'il  n'cst  point  un 
produitde  I'industrie,  mais  un  don  de  la  nature."  J.-B.  Say. 


NOTES.  393 

de  semblables  magasins  qu'on  etablira  dans  la  ville  do  Tai-tong,  qui 
est  an  nord  pourront  aider  a  la  subsistence  des  petites  villes  de  Lono-- 
pin  Kingvou,  et  autres  semblables.  Ce  sont  la  les  quatres  princi- 
pales  villes  de  la  province,  on  seront  places  les  magasins  generaux, 
etd'ou  les  grains  se  repandront  dans  les  lieux  qui  en  auront  besoin." 

He  next  mentions  the  precautions  he  conceives  necessary  to  guard 
against  malversation.  "Or  apres  des  precautions  si  necessairos, 
supposons  que,  de  la  liberalite  de  votre  majeste,  il  soit  donne  cette 
annee  a  chacun  de  ces  villes  cent  mille  francs  pour  capital:  si 
I'annee  est  abondante,  on  peut,  de  ces  cent  mille  francs,  acheter 
au  moins  trente  mille  grandes  mesures  de  riz,  lequelles  multipliees 
par  quatre,  feront,  dans  les  quatres  villes,  cent  vingt  mille  mesures. 
Depuis  la  recolte  jusqu'a  la  fin  de  I'annee  le  prix  du  riz  est  mediocre ; 
ce  n'est  que  dans  le  printemps  qui  le  prix  commence  a  augmenter, 
alors  on  ouvrira  les  magasins,  et  on  vendra  ce  riz.  De  cette  vente 
on  aura  deux  avantagesj  I'un  est  qu'en  mettant  I'abondance,  on 
empechera  que  le  prix  du  riz  ne  croisse  trop  :  I'autre,  que  le  vendant 
alors  un  pen  plus  cher  qu'il  n'a  ete  achete  dans  le  temps  de  la 
recolte,  on  sera  en  etat,  au  moyen  de  ce  profit,  d'acheier  apres  la 
nouvelle  moisson  au  moins  dix  mille  mesures  de  riz  dans  chaque 
endroit,  de  plus  qu'on  n'en  avait  I'annee  precedente.  Par-la,  I'an- 
cien  riz  sort  des  greniers,  et  le  nouveau  le  remplace.  II  sort  a  un 
prix  plus  cher  et  rentre  a  bon  marche.  N'est-ce  pas  un  excellent 
moyen  de  multiplier  ce  riz,  en  soulageant  meme  \e  peuple  ?  car  on 
ne  pretend  pas  s'enrichir  aux  depends  du  public.  Ce  riz  tire  des 
magasins  sera  vendu  au  cours  et  a  un  prix  raisonnable,  quoique 
plus  cher  qu'il  n'etait  huit  mois  auparavant.  Rien  de  plus  juste 
et  de  plus  utile  dans  les  annees  abondantes.  Par  cette  conduite, 
le  riz  chaque  annee  se  multiplie  dans  la  magasin;  et  si  pendant 
cinq  annees  il  se  fait  une  abondante  recolte,  la  provision  d'un  en- 
droit, qui  n'etoit  d'abord  que  de  trente  mille  mesures,  peut  se  trou- 
ver  a  la  cinquieme  annee  de  plus  de  quatre  cent  mille  mesures  dc 
riz.  En  cas  de  necessite,  n'est  ce  pas  deja  un  excellent  moyen  de 
soulager  toute  une  provence?  *  *  *  dans  les  disettes  ordin- 
eires,  le  rix  sera  vendu  a  un  juste  prix.  Dans  celles  qui  passeront 
un  peu  I'ordinaire,  on  en  pretera  au  peuple,  et  dans  les  grands  ne- 
cessites  on  le  distribuera  par  aumone."  Tirce  de  la  Gazette  Ptih- 
lique  par  le  R.  Pere  Contanrin. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  island  of  Trong-ming  often  enter  into 
voluntary  associations,  which  have  for  their  object  the  relief  of  some 
individual  whose  affairs  have  become  deranged.  They  give  him 
the  means  of  reestablishing  himself  in  a  way  which  they  conceive 
burdens  them  a  little,  though  not  very  much.  The  association  con- 
sists of  seven  individuals,  including  the  person  for  whose  relief  it  is 
formed.  The  principle  of  it  will  be  understood  from  the  followino- 
table. 

50 


394 


NOTES. 


First  year.  Second  year. 

The  first,  that  is,  the  person  for     The  first  gives 
whose  benefit  the  company  is  formed, 


receives 

60  pistols 

The  second  gives 

15 

third 

13 

fourth 

11 

fifth 

9 

sixth 

7 

seventh 

5 

Third  year. 

The  first  gives 

15 

second 

13 

third  receives 

60 

fourth  gives 

11 

fifth 

9 

sixth 

7 

seventh 

5 

Fifth  year. 

The  first  gives 

15 

second 

13 

third 

11 

fourth 

9 

fifth  receives 

60 

sixth  gives 

7 

seventh 

5 

Seventh  year. 

The  first  gives 

15 

second 

13 

third 

11 

fourth 

9 

[le  first  gives 

15 

second  receives 

60 

third  gives 

13 

fourth 

11 

fifth 

9 

sixth 

7 

seventh  - 

5 

Fourth  year. 

The  first  gives 

15 

second 

13 

third 

11 

fourth  receives 

60 

fifth  gives 

9 

sixth 

11 

seventh 

5 

Sixth  year. 

The  first  gives 

15 

second 

13 

third 

11 

fourth 

9 

fifth 

7 

sixth  receives 

60 

seventh  gives 

5 

Seventh  year. 

fifth 

7 

sixth 

5 

seventh  receives  60 


AUhough  the  sum  paid  by  each  of  the  associates  is  unequal,  and 
that  the  ffrst  disburse  more  each  year  than  the  last,  yet  the  Chinese 
think  that  the  conditions  of  the  contract  are  much  more  favorable 
for  the  former  than  for  the  latter,  because  they  sooner  receive  the 
sum  of  sixty  pistols,  and  the  great  profits  they  derive  from  commerce, 
well  indemnifies  them  for  the  advances  they  have  to  make.  Letter 
of  Father  Jacquemin.     Lcttrcs  Edijiantes,  Tom.  X.  p.  127. 

I  subjoin  a  few  extracts  from  different  authors,  indicative  of  the 
strength  of  the  accumulative  principle  in  China,  of  the  orders  at 
which  instruments  remain  there,  and  of  some  other  circumstances 
in  the   condition  of  that  empire,  which  I  have   referred  to  in  the 

text. 

"  The  spirit  of  gain,  by  working  on  an  extensive  plan,  and  by 
new  methods,  for  supplying  multitudes  with  particular  articles,  is 
not  prevalent  among  the  Chinese,  unless  in  large  or  maritime  towns. 
Some  there  arc,  however,  in  almost  every  village,  who  seek  to  ac- 
cumulate wealth  by  taking  advantage  of  the  wants  of  the  people 
around  them.  Shops  for  lending  money  on  pledges  are  common 
every  where.     Very  high  interest  upon   loans  is  allowed    by  law. 


NOTES.  395 

The  practice  of  such  loans  implies,  certainly,  great  improvidence 
in  the  multitude,  or  great  uncertainty  in  the  success  of  their  pur- 
suits. The  facility  of  culture,  and  the  abundance  of  crops,  when 
no  calamity  intervenes,  enables  them  in  many  places  to  bear  such 
burdens,  though  often  in  a  very  impoverished  condition."  Staun- 
ton, vol.  11.  p.  244. 

"Pawn-brokers  shops  are  as  numerous  in  Chinese  cities  as  in 
London."     Ellis'  Embassij,  p.  120. 

"  L'usure  qui  regne  parmi  les  chinois  est  un  autre  obstacle  bien 
difficile  a  vaincre.  Lorsqu'on  leur  dit  qu'avant  que  de  recevoir 
le  bapteme,  ils  doivent  restituer  des  biens  acquis  par  ces  voies  illi- 
cites,  et  aussi  ruiner  en  un  jour  toute  leur  famille,  vous  m'avouerez 
qu'il  faut  un  grand  miracle  de  la  grace  pour  les  y  determiner." 
Lettrcs  Edifiantcs,   Tom.  X.  p.  379. 

"  La  deuxieme  cause  de  la  disette  n'est  pas  seuleraent,  comme 
on  se  persuade,  la  multitude  du  peuple  Chinois;  j'avoue  qu'  elle  y 
contribue  beancoup;  cependant  je  crois  que  la  Chine  fournit  des 
grains  suffisamment  pour  la  subsistence  de  tous  ces  habitans ;  mais 
c'est  qu'on  ne  menage  pas  assez  les  grains,  et  qu'on  en  fait  une 
Consomraation  etonnante  pour  fabriquer  du  riz  et  de  I'eau-de-vie 
ou  de  la  raque.  *  *  *  *  c'est  sourtout  le  soir  avant  que  de 
se  coucher  qu'ils  en  font  usage,  principalement  le  marchands,  les 
artisans  et  les  soldats.  lis  ont  chactm  dans  la  chambre  ou  ils  cou- 
chent  un  fourneau  a  charbon  de  pierre  ou  ils  font  cuire  le  riz,  le 
the,  et  chauffer  cette  sort  de  boisson  ;  ils  la  prennent  en  mangeant 
des  herbes  salees,  et  s'enivrent  a  peu  de  frais.  Si  par  megarde, 
ou  etant  a  moitie  ivres,  ils  laissent  tomber  de  cette  raque  dans  le 
feu,  la  flamme  s'eleve  bientot  jusqu'au  plancher,  qui  n'est  fait  que 
de  nattes  d'osier  ou  de  chassis  de  papier,  et  dont  la  hauteur  n'est 
fait  que  de  trois  ou  quatre  pieds  au  dessus  de  la  tete  d'une  homme. 
Alors  dans  un  instant,  toute  la  chambre  est  en  feu ;  et  parcque  les 
bontiques  ou  couchent  les  marchands  et  la  plupart  des  maisons  du 
peuple,  ne  sont  pas  separees  de  leur  voisons  par  des  maitresses 
murailles,  et  que  souvent  les  charpentes  sont  lies  ensemble,  le  feu 
s'etend  avec  rapidite  et  fait  des  grands  ravages  avant  qu'on  ait  pu 
I'eteindre. 

"  Ajoutez  a  cela  que  I'usage  trop  frequent  de  cette  boisson  fait 
mourir  quantite  de  menu  peuple  d'une  maladie  qu'on  nomme  ye- 
che  a  la  quelle  on  n'a  pu  trouver  aucun  remede. 

"  Si  la  dissette  n'eclaircissoit  pas  de  temps  en  temps  ce  grande 
nombre  d'habitants  qui  contient  la  Chine  il  seroit  difficile  qu'elle 
put  subsister  en  paix.  II  n'y  a  point  de  guerre  comme  en  Europe, 
ni  de  pertes  ni  de  malidies  populaires ;  a  peine  en  voit-on  dans  un 
siecle."     Lettres  Edifimites,  vol.  XII.  p.  200. 

Many  circumstances  might  be  adduced,  to  show  that  it  is  not  so 
much  the  want  of  power  to  accumulate,  as  the  want  of  a  desire  to 
accumulate  sufficiently  strong  to  prompt  to  effective  action,  which 
prevents  individuals  in  the  lower  classes  in  China,  from  rising  to 
opulence.  Of  these  I  might  mention  the  number  of  eating-houses, 
and  the  goodness  of  their  fare,  and  the  occasional  richness  of  the 
attire  of  the  common  people,  as  described  by  recent  travellers.     I 


39G  NOTES. 

prefer,  l)oue\ er,  citing  an  anecdote  from  the  "  Lettres  Edifiantes," 
as  these  are  piobably  less  known  to  the  reader. 

"  Uu  vieillard  vient  le  trouver"  (ie  missionaire)  "pour  lui  repre- 
sentor I'extreme  desir  qu'il  avoit  que  Ton  construisit  une  eglise  dans 
son  village.  Votre  zele  est  louable,  lui  dit  le  missionnaire,  mais  je 
n'ai  pas  maintenant  de  quoi  fournir  a  une  pareille  depense.  Je 
pretends  bien  la  faire  moi-meme  repartit  le  villageois.  Le  mission- 
naire, accouturae  a  le  voir  depuis  plusieurs  annees  mener  une  vie 
tres-pauvre,  le  crut  hors  d'etat  d'accomplir  ce  qu'il  promettoit; 
il  loua  de  nouveau  ses  bonnes  intentions,  en  lui  representant  que 
son  village  etant  tres-considerable,  il  y  falloit  batir  une  eglise  aussi 
grande  que  celle  qui  etait  dans  la  ville  voisine  ;  que  dans  la  suite  il 
pourrit  y  contribuer  selon  ses  forces  ;  mais  que  seul  il  ne  pourrit 
suffire  a  de  si  grands  frais.  Excusez  moi,  reprit  le  paysan,  je  me 
crois  en  situation  de  faire  ce  que  je  propose.  Mais  savez  vous, 
repliqua  le  pere,  que  pour  une  pareille  entreprise,  il  faut  au  moins 
deux  mille  ecus?  Je  les  ai  tout  prets,  repondii,  le  vieillard,  et  si 
je  ne  les  avait  pas,  je  n'aurois  garde  de  vous  importuner  par  une 
semblable  demande.  Le  pere  fut  charme  d'apprendre  que  ce  bon 
homme,  qu'il  avoit  cru  fort  pauvre,  se  trouvat  neanmoins  avoir 
taut  d'argent  comptant,  et  qu'il  voulut  I'employer  si  utilement. 
Mais  il  fut  bien  plus  surpris,  lorsqu'  ayant  eu  la  curiosite  de  de- 
mander  a  ce  villageois  comment  il  avoit  pu  se  procurer  cette  som- 
me,  il  repondit  ingenument  que  depuis  quarante  ans  qu'il  avait 
concu  ce  dessein,  il  retranchait  de  sa  nourriture  et  de  son  vete- 
ment  tout  ce  qui  n'etoit  pas  absolument  necessaire,  afin  d'avoir,  la 
consolation  avant  de  mourir  de  laisser  dans  son  village  une  eglise 
elevee  a  I'honneur  du  vrai  Dien.     Vol.  XII.  p.  363. 

To  these  extracts  I  am  induced  to  add  the  two  following,  as 
strikingly  illustrative' of  the  strange  contrasts  which  the  morality  of 
the  Chinese  exhibits. 

"  This  dominion  is  tempered,"  (that  of  husbands  over  their  wives) 
"  indeed,  by  the  maxims  of  mild  conduct  in  the  different  relations 
of  life,  inculcated  from  early  childhood,  amongst  the  lowest  as  well 
as  the  highest  classes  of  societv.  The  old  persons  of  a  family  live 
generally  with  the  young.  The  former  serve  to  moderate  any 
occasional  impetuosity,  violence,  or  passion  of  the  latter.  The 
influence  of  age  over  youth  is  supported  by  the  sentiments  of  nature, 
by  the  habit  of  obedience,  by  the  precepts  of  morality  engrafted  in 
the  law  of  the  land,  and  by  the  unremitted  policy  and  honest  arts 
of  parents  to  that  effect.  They  who  are  past  labor,  deal  out  the 
rules  which  they  had  learned,  and  the  wisdom  which  experience 
taught  them,  to  those  who  are  rising  to  manhood,  or  to  those  lately 
arrived  at  it.  Plain  sentences  of  morals  are  written  up  in  the  com- 
mon hall,  where  the  male  branches  of  the  family  assemble.  Some 
one,  at  least,  is  capable  of  reading  them  to  the  rest.  In  almost 
every  house  is  hung  up  a  tablet  of  the  ancestors  of  the  persons  then 
residing  in  it.  References  are  often  made,  in  conversation,  to 
their  actions.  Their  cxan)ple,  as  far  as  it  was  good,  serves  as  an 
incitement  to  travel  in  the  same  path.  The  decendants  from  a 
coinmon  stock,  visit  the  tombs  of  their  forefathers  together,  at  stated 


NOTES.  397 

times.  Tliis  joint  care,  and  indeed  other  occasions,  collect  and 
unite  the  most  remote  relations.  They  cannot  lose  sight  of  each 
other;  and  seldom  become  indifferent  to  their  respective  concerns. 
The  child  is  bound  to  labor  and  to  provide  for  his  parents  mainte- 
nance and  comfort,  and  the  brother  for  the  brother  and  sister  that 
are  in  extreme  want,  the  failure  of  which  dutj' would  be  followed 
by  such  detestation  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  enforce  it  by  positive 
law.  Even  the  most  distant  kinsman,  reduced  to  misery  by  accident 
or  ill  health,  has  a  claim  on  his  kindred  for  relief  Manners, 
stronger  far  than  laws,  and,  indeed,  inclination,  produced  and  nur- 
tured by  intercourse  and  intimacy,  secure  asistance  for  him." 
Staunton's  China,  vol  11.  p.  21. 

"  The  frail  females  in  the  boats  had  not  embraced  this  double 
occupation,  after  having  quitted  their  parents,  or  on  being  abandon- 
ed by  them  on  account  of  their  misconduct ;  but  the  parents  them- 
selves, taking  no  other  interest  in  the  chastity  of  their  daughters, 
than  as  it  might  contribute  to  an  advantageous  disposal  of  them  to 
wealthy  husbands,  feel  little  reluctance,  when  no  such  prospect 
offers,  to  devote  them  to  one  employment,"  (that  of  conveying  pas- 
sengers in  boats)  "  with  a  view  to  the  profits  of  another."  (of  prosti- 
tution.)    Ihid.  p.  338. 


G.     Page  193,  251. 

According  to  the  view  of  banking  given  in  the  text,  it  is  an  art 
which  time,  and  what  we  call  chance,  have  wrought  out  of  the  cir- 
cumstances of  European  society,  and  the  use  of  which  is  to  quicken 
the  exhaustion  of  instruments,  by  facilitating  exchanges.  But, 
according  to  this  view  of  the  subject,  the  consideration  of  two  cir- 
cumstances generally  combined  with  banking  transactions,  is  omit- 
ted. The  business  of  banking  has  been  very  often  combined  with 
the  payment  and  receipt  of  the  revenue  of  the  state.  Whatever 
the  government  receives,  in  lieu  of  the  precious  metals,  or  other 
commodities,  in  payment  of  the  imposts  it  levies,  will  have  the 
value  of  that  for  which  it  is  taken  in  exchange.  Government  may 
so  give  the  value  of  the  precious  metals  to  paper,  or  any  other  mate- 
rial, and,  for  its  own  convenience,  may  circulate  the  money  which 
it  in  this  manner  issues  through  the  medium  of  a  bank.  Thus  the 
Bank  of  England  may  be  said  to  be  founded  on  the  transactions  of 
this  sort,  of  the  British  government.  This  is,  liowever,  a  circum- 
stance by  no  means  necessarily  connected  with  banking.  Indeed, 
I  think  there  is  reason  to  believe,  that,  from  the  great  fluctuations 
thus  introduced  into  what  is  called  the  money  market,  by  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  transactions  of  the  state,  the  union  of  the  two,  when 
it  takes  place,  operates  injuriously  on  the  general  system  of  ex- 
change of  the  country. 

The  other  circumstance  to  which  I  allude,  is  the  exchange  of 
the   precious  metals   between  different   countries.     Banks,  as  the 


398  NOTES. 

great  dealers  in  these  metals,  are  necessarily  exposed  to  the  incon- 
venience of  having  to  provide  a  supply  for  the  demands  occasioned 
by  fluctuations  in  the  business  of  difl^erent  countries.  Although, 
however,  this  circumstance  is  always  more  or  less  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  business  of  banking,  it  is  not  necessary  for  our 
purpose  to  examine  the  effects  resulting  from  it. 

We  may  confine  our  attention,  therefore,  altogether  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  art,  as  a  means  of  facilitating  exchanges  within 
any  society.  A  brief  statement  of  its  condition  in  Scotland,  a 
country  in  which,  to  judge  from  the  circumstances  attending  its 
introduction,  and  the  practical  benefits  arising  from  its  operation, 
it  has  probably  arrived  as  near  perfection  as  any  where,  may  suffi- 
ciently serve  the  purpose  of  showing  the  manner  in  which  the  mode 
of  its  operation  may  be  explained  by  the  principles  I  have  endea- 
vored to  develope,  and  how  it  seems  to  attain  the  power  of  commu- 
nicating the  advantages  it  is  capable  of  bestowing,  and  of  avoiding 
the  evils  to  which  it  is  sometimes  liable.  The  Scotch  banking 
system  is  also  better  fitted  for  an  example,  both  as  it  was  the  one 
directly  presented  to  the  observation  of  Adam  Smith,  and  from 
which,  accordingly,  his  ideas  on  the  subject  seem  to  be  chiefly 
taken,  and  because  it  is  not  directly  connected  with  the  issue  of 
government  paper,  or  with  the  passage  of  coin  or  bullion  from 
country  to  country. 

Banks  in  Scotland  are  both  what  are  termed  banks  of  deposit, 
and  of  circulation.  They  are  the  receivers  and  transferrers  of  the 
money,  or  what  is  equivalent  of  the  capital  of  others,  and  they  are 
issuers  of  paper  money  of  their  own.  Their  business  is  confined 
to  what  is  the  proper  occupation  of  bankers,  transactions  springing 
from  the  exchanges  effected  through  the  medium  of  credit.  They 
avoid,  therefore,  to  grant  loans,  unless  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating 
exchanges.  Previously,  however,  to  examining  the  operation  of 
the  system,  it  may  be  well  to  direct  our  attention  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  parties  with  whom  bankers  have  to  deal. 

When,  in  consequence  of  the  business  of  banking  being  estab- 
lished on  a  sure  basis,  in  any  community,  the  system  of  credit 
comes  extensively  to  prevail,  the  owners  of  the  whole  stock  of  the 
society  are  divided  into  two  classes,  the  one  consisting  of  those 
having  in  their  possession  a  greater  stock  of -instruments  than  what 
actually  belongs  to  them,  the  other  having  a  less  stock  than  what 
belongs  to  them.  The  larger  proportion  of  the  owners  of  stock, 
belong  sometimes  to  the  one,  sometimes  to  the  other  class,  but  the 
circumstances  of  many  place  them  permanently  in  the  one  or  the 
other. 

Individuals  engaged  in  the  forming,  transporting,  and  exchanging 
of  instruments,  the  farmers,  manufacturers,  and  merchants  of  the 
community,  have  occasion  to  employ  in  their  difTerent  businesses, 
sometimes  a  larger,  sometimes  a  smaller  stock  of  instruments  or 
capital.  At  one  time,  for  example,  the  state  of  the  land  the 
farmer  cultivates,  requires  a  great  outlay  for  seed-corn,  for  tilling, 
and  manuring  it,  and  for  wages  paid  to  laborers.  At  another  time 
the  returns  from  it  in  the  shape  of  grain,  fat  cattle,  and  other  instru- 


NOTES.  399 

ments  and  commodities  are  proportionally  great.  At  the  former 
period  the  farmer  may  not  have  a  suflicient  stock  of  his  own,  and 
may  wish  to  borrow  certain  instruments,  at  the  latter  he  is  in  a 
condition  to  lend.  In  a  similar  manner,  the  fluctuations  of  busi- 
ness render  a  merchant  sometimes  a  borrower,  sometimes  a  lender. 
For  example,  two  merchants  in  Great  Britain  are  engaged  in  the 
timber  trade,  the  one  in  that  carried  on  with  Prussia,  the  other  in 
that  with  Canada.  A  change  takes  place  in  the  business,  from  the 
duty  on  Prussian  timber  being  lessened.  The  Canadian  timber 
trade  being  thus  no  longer  profitable,  the  merchant  whose  capital 
was  embarked  in  it,  withdraws  it  from  it.  He  employs  a  portion 
of  it  in  an  experimental  adventure  to  Prussia,  but  the  larger  part 
he  has  no  immediate  use  for,  and  is,  therefore,  in  a  condition  to 
lend  to  others.  On  the  other  hand,  the  merchant  who  had  been 
accustomed  to  trade  to  Prussia,  knowing  the  details  of  that  business, 
and  having  a  correspondence  established  there,  is  able  to  employ 
with  advantage  a  much  larger  capital  than  he  possesses.  He  wishes 
to  borrow  instruments,  that  is,  commodities  to  export  to  Prussia, 
and  to  have  the  use  of  ships  for  the  double  transport.  Fluctuations, 
such  as  these,  and  innumerable  others,  occasion  continual  variations 
in  the  stock  which  every  merchant,  or  other  individual  engaged  in 
any  sort  of  business,  is  capable  of  employing  with  advantage. 
Sometimes,  therefore,  the  business  of  every  one  is  expanded  much 
farther  than  his  own  stock  would  permit,  at  other  tim.es  it  is  con- 
tracted into  so  narrow  limits,  as  not  to  give  employment  to  the 
whole  of  it. 

Again,  in  every  society  there  are  many  individuals  who  cannot 
themselves  employ  the  instruments  they  own.  A  merchant,  for 
example,  dies,  leaving  a  large  stock  of  instruments  of  one  sort  or 
other  to  his  widow,  and  young  children.  These  they  cannot  em- 
ploy. They  must  either  convert  them  into  cash,  which,  placing  in 
security,  they  may  gradually  expend  as  their  occasions  require,  or 
they  must  lend  them  to  others  who  will  pay  for  their  use.  On  the 
other  hand,  young  men  of  ability,  who  have  been  bred  to  any  busi- 
ness, although,  perhaps,  they  may  have  very  little  or  no  capital,  may 
yet  be  able  to  put  instruments  with  which  they  may  be  entrusted,  to 
so  active  use,  that  they  may  yield  more  than  the  ordinary  returns, 
and  so,  after  paying  for  the  usual  profits,  may  leave  a  considerable 
surplus  as  the  reward  of  their  exertions. 

The  Scotch  system  of  banking  seems  well  calculated  for  admit- 
ting the  easy  passage  of  indiviuals  from  the  one  to  the  other  class. 
Its  distinguishing  characteristic  is  that  the  banker  allows  interest 
on  all  sums  deposited,  from  the  moment  of  deposit,  and  that,  on 
sufficient  security,  he  is  always  ready  to  grant  the  loan  of  as  small, 
or  as  large  an  amount,  as  may  be  required.  When  he  lends  to 
individuals,  by  discounting  bills,  or  by  what  are  termed  bank 
credits,  he  becomes  the  real  owner  of  a  proportional  amount  of  the 
stock  of  instruments  they  hold,  and  in  this  way  may  be  said  to  be 
the  owner  of  a  part  of  the  general  stock  of  instruments  of  those 
dealing  with  him,  equal  to  the  amount  of  what  he  has  lent.  In 
reality,  however,  it  is  not  altogether  he  who  owns  them,  but  rather 


400  NOTES. 

they  who  have  given  him  the  larger  part  of  his  funds  in  the  shape 
of  deposits.  These  have  all  come  to  him  with  money  in  the  form 
of  coin,  of  paper  money  of  other  banks,  or  of  his  own  money,  or  of 
an  order  for  his  own  money,  and  in  place  of  it  have  been  content 
with  a  pledge  that  it  shall  be  returned  on  demand,  and  that  in  the 
interim  interest  will  be  allowed  on  it.  By  this  arrangement  the 
banker,  in  effect,  transfers  to  them  a  portion  of  his  claims  on  the 
instruments  held  by  those  who  are  debtors  to  liim,  and  part  of  his 
right  to  a  portion  of  the  returns  made  by  tliem.  Thus,  while  the 
merchant  formerly  trading  to  Canada,  instead  of  employing  the 
money  he  receives  for  sales  of  his  existing  stock  of  timber  in  pur- 
chasing other  goods,  and  in  freighting  other  ships  for  that  market, 
pays  it  into  the  bank,  the  merchant  trading  to  Prussia  is  drawing 
money  out  of  the  bank,  for  the  purpose  of  extending  his  trade  with 
Prussia.  The  effect  produced  is,  in  so  far,  similar  to  that  which 
would  have  resulted  from  the  Canadian  trader  lending  part  of  his 
capital  to  the  trader  to  the  Baltic.  It  differs  from  such  a  transac- 
tion, Iiowever,  in  three  respects  :  1st.  These  two  individuals  might 
be  unknown  to  each  other,  and  might  have  no  means  of  ascertain- 
ing their  respective  plans;  2d.  The  merchant  trading  to  Canada 
would  probably  have  either  less  or  more  spare  funds,  than  the  mer- 
chant trading  to  Prussia  required;  3d.  He  might,  also,  probably, 
have  occasion  to  call  for  them,  for  his  own  purposes,  at  a  time  when 
it  might  be  inconvenient,  or  impossible,  for  the  other  to  replace 
them.  The  banker,  on  the  contrary,  is  always  ready  to  receive  or 
to  lend. 

Throughout  all  the  occupations  carried  on  by  the  different 
members  of  the  community,  similar  circumstances  occur.  One 
tradesman,  or  mechanic,  is  laying  by  funtls  for  building  a  dwelling 
house,  another  is  expending  all  the  funds  he  has  laid  by,  and,  per- 
haps, borrowing  a  little  more,  -for  the  purpose  of  finishing  a  dwell- 
ing house.  While  the  farmer  is  depositing  in  the  bank  some  part 
of  the  proceeds  of  his  sales  of  grain  and  cattle,  the  corn  merchant- 
and  the  butcher  are  drawing  funds  from  the  bank,  for  the  purpose 
of  assisting  them  to  purchase  these  commodities. 

It  will  thus  be  found,  that  the  person  making  the  deposit,  is  one 
who  has  just  transferred  to  others,  who  can  employ  them  at  the 
moment  to  more  advantage  than  he,  some  instruments  which  he 
held,  and  that  in  return  he  receives  a  claim  to  that  amount,  on  the 
funds  of  the  bank,  and  of  interest  on  it  till  paid.  Those  funds, 
however,  consist  chiefly  of  debts,  owing  to  the  bank  by  the  commu- 
nity at  large,  and  that  interest  is  drawn  from  the  profits  arising  from 
the  stock  of  instruments  effectively  owned  by  the  bank,  and  lent  by 
it  to  the  individuals  with  whom  it  deals.  Hence  the  person  making 
the  deposit  is  one  having  transferred  a  part  of  his  stock  of  instru- 
ments to  an  individual,  and  receiving  in  lieu  of  it  a  share  of  the 
claim  of  the  bank,  on  the  general  stock  of  instruments  owned  by 
those  indebted  to  it.  In  this  way  the  bank  may  be  considered  as  a 
1)roker  neirociatino-  between  those,  the  condition  of  whose  business 
requires  them  to  borrow,  and  those,  the  condition  of  whose  business 
disposes  them  to  lend,  and   generalizing  the  transactions  of  both. 


NOTES.  401 

It  is  not  by  any  means,  however,  merely  a  broker.  Besides  the 
fluctuating  deposits,  it  has  a  large  capital  of  its  own  embarked  in 
the  business.  This  is  chiefly  owned  by  individuals  whose  circum- 
stances place  them  permanently  in  the  class  of  lenders,  persons 
retired,  or  retiring  from  active  business,  or  widows,  &:,c.,  who, 
selling  off  their  stock,  employ  their  funds  in  this  manner. 

This  system  probably  yields  as  many  advantages  as  any  hitherto 
discovered,  and  avoids,  as  well  as  may  be,  the  chief  evils  to  which 
the  business  of  banking  is  subject. 

1.  By  means  of  it  all  possible  exchanges  are  made  at  the  least  ex- 
pense; and  with  the  greatest  facility.  Every  person  is  prompted  to 
sell  because  the  money  he  receives  yields  an  immediate  return. 
Every  person  having  it  in  his  power  to  turn  any  commodity  to  good 
account,  has  the  means  afforded  him  of  obtaining  possession  of  it. 

2.  The  capital  which  bankers  own,  or  hold,  is  liable  to  be  embarked 
and  lost  by  them  in  imprudent  speculations;  or,  through  partiality, 
to  be  lent  to  a  few  individuals  who  may  squander  it  in  the  same 
manner.  This  seems  to  be  best  guarded  against  by  there  being 
many  stock  holders,  and  a  large  capital.  In  the  banks  to  which 
we  refer,  this  is  generally,  though  not  always  the  case. 

The  knowledge  which  the  banker  acquires,  by  means  of  the  sys- 
tem of  bank  credits,  of  the  state  of  the  aflfairs  of  those  dealing  with 
him,  is  probably  somewhat  greater  than  can  be  obtained  by  the 
mere  discount  of  bills.  It  gives  him  the  sort  of  information,  which 
one  would  acquire  of  the  affairs  of  another,  by  having  the  care  of 
his  purse.  I  believe,  also,  that  persons  dealing  with  the  Scotch 
bankers,  are  somewhat  more  strongly  excited  than  those  dealing 
with  other  bankers,  to  vigilence  in  providing  funds  to  meet  positive 
engagements  with  them,  as  the  slightest  failure  of  any  individual 
in  any  such  transaction,  occasions  his  sureties  being  called  on  to 
pay  up  his  cash  account,  ruins  his  credit,  and  renders  it  impossible 
for  him  to  continue  his  business.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that 
this  system  has  considerable  efficiency  in  checking  rash  and  impru- 
dent speculations,  by  withholding  funds  from  those  most  likely  to 
run  into  them. 

3.  The  large  amount  of  stock  subscribed,  and  the  subscribers 
being  severally  responsible  to  the  amount  of  all  the  property  they 
possess,  give  so  great  confidence  in  the  stability  of  the  banks,  that 
nothing  but  some  very  great  revolution  in  the  affairs  of  the  society, 
or  some  great  convulsion  in  the  money  market,  would  be  sufficient 
to  shake  it.  Owing  to  the  system  pursued,  the  possibility  of  any 
great  disturbance  of  the  money  market  is  prevented.  This  forms 
the  fourth  circumstance  to  be  noted. 

4.  I  have  observed  in  the  text,  that,  when  any  reverse  happens  to 
the  trade  of  a  community,  the  diminution  of  sales  which  is  the  con- 
sequence of  it,  while  it  renders  it  necessary  for  those,  whose  busi- 
ness, as  compared  with  their  capital,  is  much  expanded,  to  borrow 
money  to  meet  the  engagements  which  they  have  entered  into, 
gives  a  redundancy  of  money  to  those  whose  business,  as  compared 
with  their  capital,  is  small,  and  who  have  contracted  to  receive  a 
great  amount  of  money,  and  to  pay  only  a  small  amount. 

51 


402  NOTES. 

According  to  the  system  of  banking  which  prevails  in  England, 
and  in  most  countries,  all  individuals  in  the  latter  class  will  have  a 
greater  or  less  amount  of  cash  lying  by  them  useless.  They  are 
afraid  to  lend  it,  owing  to  the  prevailing  embrrassments,  and,  where 
the  banker  allows  no  interest  on  money  deposited  with  him,  they 
have  no  particular  motive  to  induce  them  to  lodge  it  in  any  bank. 
But,  when  a  person  intends  to  keep  money  lying  by  him,  he  will 
be  apt  to  prefer  coin,  to  paper,  the  former  is  the  securest  of  any 
sort  of  property,  the  latter  may  possibly  be  insecure.  He  will  more 
especially  be  inclined  to  prefer  the  former,  if  he  have  the  least  sus- 
picion of  the  stability  of  the  bank  issuing  the  paper.  It  is  thus 
that,  at  such  seasons,  what  are  called  runs  upon  particular  banks, 
are  very  apt  to  arise,  and  both  to  bring  ruin  on  the  bank,  and  in- 
crease the  general  embarrassment.  But  wherever,  as  in  Scotland, 
the  banker  allows  interest  on  all  sums  deposited,  no  one  thinks  of 
keeping  money  by  him.  The  very  classes,  too,  it  may  be  remarked, 
who  are  most  apt  to  commence  these  runs,  petty  shop-keepers  and 
tradesmen,  have  in  Scotland,  in  general,  bank  credits,  and  are  con- 
tinually striving  to  put  as  much  money  into  the  bank  with  which 
they  deal,  as  the  necessity  of  their  business  will  permit.  In  Scot- 
land, therefore,  the  banks,  owning  greatly,  no  doubt,  to  the  guar- 
antee of  a  very  large  capital  prudently  managed,  but,  also,  as  I 
conceive,  in  no  inconsiderable  degree,  to  the  tendency  of  the  sys- 
tem to  bring  into  them  all  the  spare  funds  of  the  society  in  the  shape 
of  deposits,  have  not  for  fifty  years  been  exposed  to  any  dangers 
or  inconveniences  of  the  sort,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  severest  com- 
mercial distress,  and  the  ruin  of  the  banking  establishments  of  the 
sister  kingdom,  have  always  maintained  their  course  steadily,  and 
been  able  to  apply  the  resources  of  the  community  to  carry  those 
through  the  crisis,  whose  embarrassments  had  arisen,  not  from  the 
bankrupt  state  of  their  affairs,  but  from  the  pressure  of  the  times.* 

5.  Banks  have  very  often  issued  an  overabundant  supply  of  their 
particular  money,  and  it  has  been  depreciated.  An  effectual  reme- 
dy for  this,  one  would  be  inclined  to  conceive,  would  be  their  being 
obliged  to  convert  it,  on  demand,  into  gold  or  silver.  Many  per- 
sons, however,  do  not  think  that  this  is  sufficient,  and  believe,  that, 
notwithstanding,  an  over  issue  may  take  place.  If  so,  the  Scotch 
system,  by  its  tendency  to  return  on  the  bank  all  money  not  in  im- 
mediate use,  would  seem  to  be  a  pretty  effective  check  on  the 
occurrence  of  such  an  evil. 

Banking  may  be  fitly  described,  as  a  generalization  of  individual 
credit  transactions.  Every  system  of  banking  generalizes  them  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent.  The  more  complete  the  generalization, 
the  more  completely  does  the  system  perform  its  functions,  and  the 
nearer  it  comes  to  the  perfection  of  art.  The  Scotch  system, 
viewed  as  an  art  of  this  sort,  seems  to  discharge  its  function  well. 
Whatever  spare  capital  the  turns  of  business  may  there  throw  into 
any  individuals  hand,  he  finds  it  for  his   advantage  to  place  in  the 

*  See  the  correspondence  between  Lord  Liverpool  and  the  Cliancellor  of 
the  Excliequer  and  the  Bank  of  England,  in  ltt26,  in  Hansards  Debates. 


NOTES.  403 

bank,  whatever  additional  capital  they  may  require  of  him,  he 
easily  procures  from  the  bank.  The  facility  with  which  it  operates 
may  be  best  seen,  by  contrasting  it  with  the  English  system. 

In  England,  an  individual  dealing  with  a  banker,  is  expected 
to  leave  in  his  hands  an  amount  of  capital  as  a  deposit,  for  which 
he  receives  no  interest.     It  is  from  this  that  the  profit  of  the  banker 
is  derived.     When,  therefore,  a  person  in  the  course  of  business 
has  a  greater  portion  than  usual  of  unemployed   capital,  he  finds 
there  no  immediate  advantage  in  placing  it  in  the  bankers  hands. 
He,  therefore,  probably,   will  not  place  it  there  so  promptly,  as  he 
would  in  Scotland.     The  effect  of  this  tardiness  is  more  especially 
felt  at  those  critical  periods  to  which  I  have  referred  in  the  text, 
when,  in  consequence  of  a  general  decrease  of  the  amount  of  sales, 
persons  whose  means  have  been  most  expanded,  are   under  the 
necessity  of  borrowing  to  a  larger  extent  than  they  had  anticipated. 
If,  on  such  occasions,   they  whose   business  has  been   contracted 
within  narrower  limits  than  their  capitals  would   have   admitted, 
and  who,  in  consequence  of  avoiding  to  purchase,  have  a  larger  sur- 
plus capital  than  usual  in  their  hands  in  the  shape  of  money,  retain 
it  there,  instead  of  placing  it  in  the  bank,  the  banker  is  restrained 
from  making  the  advances  he  otherwise  would,  and  a  violent  check 
is  given  to  the  operation  of  the  credit  system,  sufficient  to  give  a 
beginning  to  convulsions  more  extensively  deranging  it. 

This  system,  also,  as  compared  with  the  English,  adjusts  itself 
with  greater  precision  to  the  actual  circumstances  of  the  two  great 
classes  of  the  community,  the  lenders  and  borrowers,  to  whose 
transactions  it  serves  as  the  instrument.  When,  in  consequence 
either  of  the  progress  of  accumulation,  or  of  misfortunes  befalling 
the  industry  of  the  country,  instuments  are  placed  in  more  slowly 
returning  orders,  and  profits  fall,  borrowers  should  pay  less,  and 
lenders  receive  less,  for  the  use  of  capital.  And  reversely,  when 
profits  rise,  more  should  be  paid  by  the  one  class,  and  more  received 
by  the  other.  This  is  naturally  brought  about  where  a  certain  rate 
is  paid  for  funds  deposited,  as  well  as  for  those  drawn.  Under 
such  a  system  the  banker -cannot  afford  to  have  any  capital  lying 
dormant.  He  must,  therefore,  preserve  the  proper  proportion  be- 
tween the  funds  deposited  in  his  hands,  and  those  drawn  out  of  his 
hands.  When  the  former  become  too  great,  which  will  be  the  case 
when  trade  is  dull,  he  lowers  the  rate  of  interest  which  he  charges 
his  customers,  and,  also,  that  which  he  gives  them,  and  thus  dimin- 
ishes the  amount  deposited,  and  increases  that  drawn.  He  does 
just  the  reverse  and  produces  directly  opposite  effects,  when  trade 
becomes  more  lively,  and  profits  rise.  In  England,  on  the  contrary, 
the  state  of  trade  has  no  direct  effect  on  the  interest  which  bankers 
charge,  and  the  due  proportion  between  borrowers  and  lenders  is 
not  so  maintained.* 

The  advantages  derived  from  any  system  become  apparent,  by 
considering  the  con.sequences  that  would  result  from  its  being  abol- 
ished, or  from  its  actions  being  impeded.     On  this  account  I  shall 

*  Joplin  on  Currency,  p.  103. 


404  NOTES. 

state  three  hypothetical  cases,  with  regard  to  the  system  which  we 
are  now  considering,  as  an  example  of  the  effects  of  banking  in 
general. 

In  the  year  1826  it  was  proposed  in  the  British  Parliament,  to 
enact  a  law  putting  a  stop  to  the  circulation  of  one  pound  bank 
notes,  the  chief  money  of  Scotland.  The  bankers  maintained  that 
in  this  case  they  would  no  longer  carry  on  business.  Let  us  sup- 
pose, that  the  proposal  had  been  adopted,  and  that  the  effect  had 
really  been  utterly  to  abolish  the  business  of  banking  in  that  coun- 
try, and  unless  in  barter,  to  make  all  buying  and  selling  to  be  trans- 
acted in  coin,  either  in  ready  cash,  or  in  cash  paid  when  the  period, 
to  which  credit  had  been  limited,  expired. 

In  considering  the  effects  of  such  a  change,  we  may  divide  all 
transactions  now  taking  place  in  Scotland,  and  concerned  in  the 
question,  into  those  effected  by  bank  bills,  or  as  they  are  termed, 
bank  notes,  and  those  effected  by  checks  on  some  bank. 

1 .  Of  those  now  effected  by  bank  bills,  of  which  the  majority  are 
what  are  called  one  pound  notes.  Every  purchaser,  that  is,  every 
person  in  business,  would  be  obliged  to  have  continually  lying  by 
him,  to  answer  occasional  demands,  a  certain  sum  proportional  to 
the  extent  of  his  business,  and  when  preparing  for  some  extraor- 
dinary occasion,  for  a  length  of  time  previous  he  would  be  collect- 
ing and  hoarding  up  funds  sufficient  for  the  purchase  or  purchases 
he  intended  making.  A  large  part  of  the  money  of  the  country, 
would,  therefore,  be  constantly  lying  idle,  doing  nothing,  but  wait- 
ing for  something  to  do.  Let  us  suppose  that  we  are  in  Scotland 
at  the  present  moment,  and  that  bank  notes  being  able  to  hear  and 
answer  questions,  we  take  at  random  a  parcel  of  one  pound  notes, 
and  interrogate  them  as  to  what  their  employment  is,  and  how  they 
discharge  it.  They  would  doubtless  answer:  "the  service  we 
render  is  to  pass  from  hand  to  hand,  for  the  purpose  of  making  ex- 
changes." "  Do  you  ever  lie  idle  for  anytime?"  "No.  Every 
one  that  gets  hold  of  us  immediately  passes  us  to  some  other  person, 
either  to  pay  some  debt,  or  to  make  some  purchase,  or  if  not,  car- 
ries us  to  the  banker,  who  sets  us  out  again  on  the  same  round. 
Some  times,  indeed,  we  get  a  few  days,  or  a  few  weeks  rest,  in  the 
desk  of  a  small  country  dealer,  or  some  such  person,  who  has  to 
wait  that  time,  perhaps,  before  he  can  collect  a  dozen  of  us  to  send 
to  the  bank,  but  this  is  seldom,  and  as  it  were  by  chance."  Let 
now  the  banks  be  done  away  with,  and,  instead  of  bank  notes,  let 
us  have  to  ask  the  same  questions  of  sovereigns.  Their  answer 
would  be,  "we  are  employed  in  the  service  of  people  who  collect 
us  for  the  purpose  of  buying  some  thing,  or  things,  with  us,  when 
the  chance  presents  itself  We  are  lying  continually  idle,  there- 
fore, for  longer  or  shorter  intervals,  waiting  till  this  chance  cast  up. 
Sometimes  Vv'e  are  collected  in  money  bags  for  weeks,  sometimes 
for  months,  and  unless  when  we  get  into  the  hands  of  very  neces- 
sitous persons,  we  each  of  us  expect  to  be  put  by  in  some  place 
of  security,  along  with  others  of  our  brethren,  and  with  them  to 
wait  the  chance  of  being  called  out  to  effect  some  exchange,  after 
which  we  again  return  for  a  time  to  inactivity." 


NOTES.  405 

What  in  the  supposed  cases  must  be  true  of  a  particular  set  of 
bank  notes,  or  a  particular  set  of  sovereigns,  would  be  true  of  all 
bank  notes,  and  of  all  sovereigns,  and  hence  the  amount  of  ex- 
changes effected  in  any  particular  year,  by  means  of  three  and  a 
half  millions  of  bank  notes,  about  the  present  circulation  of  Scot- 
land, must  be  far  greater  than  would  be  effected  in  the  same  time, 
under  the  suppositions  we  have  made,  by  three  and  a  half  millions 
of  sovereigns.  The  latter  could  not  both  be  effecting  exchanges, 
and  lying  idle. 

2.  But,  besides  the  exchanges  made  by  means  of  bank  notes,  a 
great  amount  of  exchanges  are  effected  by  orders  or  checks  on  the 
banker.  Were  there  no  banking  system  there  in  existence,  these, 
also,  would  have  to  be  effected  by  the  medium  of  money,  either 
ready  money,  or  money  paid  after  a  certain  time,  but  certainly,  in 
some  way  or  other,  through  the  instrumentality  of  money.  There 
would  require,  then,  to  be  a  farther  provision  of  sovereigns,  to  effect 
the  large  amount  of  exchanges  now  managed  by  a  few  strokes  of 
the  pen  of  a  bankers  clerk. 

What  would  be  the  addition  which  these  two  circumstances 
would  render  it  necessary  to  make  to  the  circulating  medium,  in 
order  to  bring  sovereigns  to  approximate  in  efficiency  to  the  bank 
notes,  the  place  of  which  they  occupied,  might  be  difficult  to  de- 
termine. The  proportion  of  the  one  to  the  other,  might  be  as  3  to 
2,  as  4  to  2,  as  6  to  2,  or  as  8  to  2,  or  perhaps  still  higher ;  it  is 
very  certain,  however,  that  the  one  would  be  much  greater  than 
the  other.  After  all,  it  would  only  be  an  approximation.  As  what 
will  happen  can  only  be  conjectured,  not  known,  every  person 
engaged  in  business  would  occasionally  err  in  his  calculations,  and 
would  sometimes  have  commodities  offered  him  which  he  would 
wish  to  purchase,  but  for  want  of  cash  would  be  unable  to  purchase. 
The  two  circumstances  referred  to,  the  additional  expense  of  ex- 
changes, consequent  to  the  additional  money  necessary  to  effect 
them,  and  the  diminution  of  exchanges  consequent  to  the  want  of 
the  money  necessary  to  effect  them,  united,  would  mark  the  direct 
loss  the  community  sustained  by  the  abolition  of  the  banking  sys- 
tem. The  indirect  loss  would  arise  from  the  check  given  to  the 
accumulative  principle,  by  the  diminished  quickness  of  return  ot 
instruments — by  what  would  be  termed  the  dulness  of  trade  —  and 
the  diminished  accumulation  of  stock  consequent  to  it. 

But  such  a  supposition  as  that  we  have  made,  could  not  possibly 
come  to  be  a  reality.  When  the  art  of  banking  has  once  been 
introduced  into  a  country,  the  advantages  resulting  from  it,  are  too 
great  to  admit  of  its  being  altogether  abolished.  There  will  always 
be  some  generalization  of  credit  transactions,  some  recognized  mode 
of  transferring  from  hand  to  hand,  promises  to  pay,  made  by  one 
individual  to  another.  The  enactments  of  the  legislator  may  act 
on  the  art  so  as  to  make  it  more  or  less  effective,  but  they  cannot 
prevent  the  practice  of  it.  I  shall,  therefore,  make  another  suppo- 
sition, and  assume  that  the  measure  proposed  having  been  adopted, 
sovereigns  took  the  place  of  bank  notes,  and  that,  notwithstanding, 
the  banks  continued  their  operations  as  before. 


406  NOTES. 

In  this  case  the  banks,  by  the  supposition,  giving  sovereigns  out, 
and  receiving  them  again,  in  tbe  same  manner  as  they  had  tlieir 
ovv^n  notes,  the  community  in  general  would  have  been  sensible  of 
no  other  alteration  but  that  of  handling  gold  instead  of  paper,  and 
they  would  have  had  the  advantage  of  some  additional  security 
against  the  danger  of  the  failure  of  the  banks,  and  against  disorders 
consequent  on  drains  of  gold  from  abroad.  But  this  supposition, 
also,  is  inadmissible.  The  diminution  of  the  paper  money  issued 
by  the  bankers,  would  have  proportionably  diminished  their  profits. 
The  amount  of  one  pound  bank  notes  there  circulating,  being  some- 
thing over  two  millions,  their  circulation  would  probably  have  been 
curtailed  by  the  measure  by  nearly  two  millions.  This  at  five  per 
cent,  is  not  much  short  of  half  of  what  they  make  by  the  whole 
funds  deposited  in  their  hands,  which  have  been  estimated  at  about 
twenty  millions,  and  on  which  they  gain  one  per  cent.,  the  differ- 
ence between  what  they  chaige  those  who  borrow  from  them,  and 
which  they  give  those  who  lend  to  them.  Their  profits  must, 
therefore,  have  been  greatly  diminished  by  the  measure,  and  unless 
we  suppose  that  bankers  in  Scotland  have  more  than  the  ordinary 
profits  of  stock,  which,  where  there  is  so  active  a  competition,  can- 
not well  be,  capital  would  have  been  withdrawn  from  the  business,* 
or  the  business  would  have  undergone  a  change.  It  is  probable 
that  the  latter  circumstance  would  have  happened.  The  banks 
would  either  have  made  more  than  one  per  cent,  difference  between 
what  they  allowed  and  what  they  charged  for  money,  or,  as  is  more 
likely,  they  would  have  changed  the  system  of  bank  credits.  The 
business  of  the  small  dealers,  tradesmen  and  farmers,  who  have 
credit  with  the  banks,  is  transacted  mostly  by  one  pound  notes. 
Bank  bills  exceeding  five  pounds  rarely  pass  into  their  hands. 
Under  the  supposition,  therefore,  this  class  would  have  circulated 
but  very  little  of  the  bankers  paper;  he,  consequently,  would  have 
declined  granting  them  credit,  in  this  way,  and  confined  his  credits 
of  this  sort  to  merchants  and  others,  whose  transactions  being  large, 
made  them  the  circulators  of  the  paper  to  the  issue  of  which  he  was 
confined,  and  whose  business,  consequently  would  have  been  more 
profitable  to  him.  The  facility  of  exchange  among  the  small  dealers 
would  have  been  greatly  abridged,  and  through  it,  that  among  the 
whole  community  would  have  been  somewhat  lessened.  The  real 
amount  of  loss  that  would  have  been  in  consequence  sustained,  it 
is  not  necessary  to  our  purpose  to  attempt  to  fix.  Almost  all  per- 
sons practically  acquainted  with  the  business  of  the  country,  be- 
lieved that  it  would  have  been  very  considerable,  and,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  urgent  representation,  the  measure  in  contemplation 
was  abandoned. 

*  It  may  be  observed,  that  there  is  a  great  difference  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States  in  this  respect,  because  in  Great  Britain  the  govern- 
ment funds  afford  an  advantageous  investment  for  the  capitals  of  individuals, 
widows,  iSic,  who  in  tliis  continent  are  under  a  sort  of  necessity  of  placing  it 
in  banks.  In  this,  and  in  many  other  respects,  as  in  the  distance  from  other 
nations,  and  the  increased  difficulty  in  replenishing  the  stock  of  bullion  when 
exhausted,  the  situation  of  the  two  countries  is  very  different. 


NOTES.  407 

If  I  have  succeeded  in  placing  clearly  before  the  reader  my  ideas 
concerning  this  somewhat  intricate  subject,  he  will,  I  think,  per- 
ceive, that  there  exists  an  essential  difference  between  the  nature 
and  operation  of  the  money  of  the  banker,  and  those  of  other 
money. 

In  communities  where  the  art  of  banking  has  no  existence,  money 
may  be  defined  to  be"  a  commodity,  of  which  every  person  in  the 
habit  of  making  exchanges,  keeps  a  supply  by  him,  for  the  purpose 
of  effecting  them. 

In  a  community,  again,  where  the  art  of  banking  has  been  estab- 
lished, as  in  the  instance  of  Scotland,  if  we  confine  our  attention 
to  those  who  have  dealings  with  the  banker,  the  money  he  issues 
may  be  fitly  described  as  counters  which  he  gives  them  for  the 
purpose  of  arranging  their  transactions  with  one  another,  and 
which  they  return  to  him  immediately  they  are  arranged,  that  they 
may  be  rated  on  his  books  according  to  the  place  they  occupy  as 
borrowers  of  part,  or  as  owners  of  part,  of  the  general  funds  which 
he  holds.  An  individual  who  has  a  deposit  in  a  bank  draws  from 
it,  we  shall  say,  the  sum  of  <£1,000,  and  lessens  by  that  amount 
the  deposits  in  the  bank,  and  for  which  it  has  to  pay  interest.  But, 
of  course,  he  intends  to  put  it  to  some  use,  that  is,  to  make  some 
purchase  or  purchases  with  it,  or  pay  for  some  before  made.  The 
person  or  persons  to  whom,  for  this  purpose,  he  transfers  it,  by  the 
supposition  dealers  with  the  bank,  if  they  have  no  immediate  use 
for  it,  w'ill  directly  carry  it  to  the  bank,  and  then  the  general  de- 
posits and  loans  of  the  bank  will  be  the  same  as  before,  but  the 
bank  accounts  of  the  particular  depositors  and  borrowers  engaged  in 
the  transaction  will  have  suffered  an  alteration.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  any  of  those  individuals,  among  whom  the  ,il,000  is  distri- 
buted, or  all  of  them,  have  use  for  the  sums  they  receive,  that  can 
only  be  to  make  some  immediate  purchases,  or  to  pay  for  some 
before  made.  In  this  way,  after  passing  through  a  less  or  greater 
number  of  hands,  the  =£1,000  the  banker  had  issued,  finds  its  way 
back  to  him,  and,  as  far  as  his  business  is  concerned,  he  is  exactly 
in  the  same  situation  as  before  he  issued  it.  The  situation  of  the 
person  who  took  out  the  money,  and  that  of  them  who  return  it,  is 
altered.  One  holds  a  greater  stock  of  instruments,  and  the  debtor 
side  of  his  bank  account  is  proportionally  greater,  the  others  hold 
a  less  stock,  and  the  credit  side  of  their  bank  accounts  are  propor- 
tionably  greater.  The  former  has  transferred  a  part  of  his  claim 
on  the  general  stock  of  instruments,  and  has  in  lieu  of  it  the  pos- 
session of  some  particular  instrument  or  instruments,  and  the  latter 
have  done  the  reverse.  The  bank  money,  therefore,  has  merely 
served  the  place  of  counters,  by  aid  of  which  the  customers  of  the 
bank  settle  their  tiansactions,  and  finally  determine  their  relations 
to  its  stock.  During  the  time  these  transactions  were  in  progress, 
there  was  a  proportional  diminution  in  the  amount  of  interest  which 
the  bank  had  to  pay  its  customers,  and,  if  the  counters  it  gave  them 
were  merely  pieces  of  paper  costing  it  little  pr  nothing,  this  would 
be  so  much  clear  gain  to  it ;  if  they  were  gold,  the  expense  of  pro- 
curing them  would  exactly  balance  the  gain. 


408  NOTES. 

If  there  be  a  plurality  of  banks,  as  the  bankers  in  this  case,  ex- 
change their  notes  with  one  another,  the  series  of  transactions  pro- 
duced are  substantially  the  same,  unless  in  so  far  as  the  business  of 
one  bank  may  be  extending,  that  of  another  contracting,  a  circum- 
stance which  is  generally  of  little  moment  to  the  community. 

It  is  only  when  the  banker's  money  passes  out  of  the  range  of 
those  having  transactions  with  him,  that  it  comes  to  hold  the  place 
of  other  money.  While  it  is  in  their  hands,  it  performs  the  office 
that  other  money  would,  and  in  this  respect,  if  it  be  paper  money, 
he  gains  an  advantage  not  directly  springing  from  the  exchanges 
managed  by  his  funds.  Individuals,  however,  who  do  not  deal  with 
any  bank,  where  banking  is  properly  managed,  are  persons  whose 
affairs  do  not  require  them  to  keep  money  by  them,  and  by  the 
agency  of  both  classes,  it  is,  therefore,  preserved  in  continual  motion 
and  employment. 

I  have  entered  into  a  longer  detail  on  this  subject  than  I  had 
intended,  from  my  desire  to  make  apparent  the  distmction  stated  m 
the  text,  in  regard  to  the  superior  efficiency  of  the  money  which 
the  banker  puts  into  circulation,  whether  paper  or  gold,  as  com- 
pared with  that  which  exists  where  the  art  of  banking  is  unknown, 
and  where  there  is  either  no  generalization,  or  an  imperfect  gener- 
alization of  transactions  performed  through  the  medium  of  credit. 

It  will  be  seen,  that  the  view  I  have  attempted  to  give  of  the 
whole  subject  of  exchange,  is  quite  opposed  to  that  exhibited  in  the 
Wealth  of  Nations.  Adam  Smith  sets  out  from  exchange,  and 
makes  it,  and  the  division  of  labor  consequent  on  it,  the  source  of 
stock,  whereas  I  have  endeavored  to  show  that  exchange  is  the 
result  of  the  increase  of  stock,  and  subsequent  division  of  employ- 
ments, that  the  necessity  for  its  existence  is  a  circumstance  retard- 
ing the  increase  of  stock,  and  that  the  benefits  of  the  art  of  bank- 
ing spring  from  the  facility  which  that  art  gives  to  the  process. 

As  exchange  may  be  said  to  be  the  commencement  of  Adam 
Smith's  system,  and  as  money  is  the  instrument  of  exchange,  he 
assumes  it  as  a  first  principle,  that  while  the  exchanges  remain  the 
same,  the  same  amount  of  money  is  necessary  to  transact  them. 
Bank  paper,  he,  therefore,  concludes,  will  exactly  equal  in  nominal 
value  the  specie  circulated  before  its  issue.  If  it  exceed  this  amount, 
it  will  return  upon  the  bank,  if  it  fall  short  of  it,  the  vacancy  will  be 
filled  by  specie.  This  principle,  which  Adam  Smith,  as  is  observed 
by  Mr.  Say,  has  introduced  into  speculations  on  this  subject,  is 
thus  epitomized  by  the  latter  author: 

"Taking  it  for  granted,  then,  that  the  specie,  remaining  in  cir- 
culation within  the  community,  is  limited  by  the  national  demand 
for  circulating  medium ;  if  any  expedient  can  be  devised,  for  sub- 
stituting bank  notes  in  place  of  half  the  specie,  or  the  commodity, 
money,  there  wUl  evidently  be  a  superabundance  of  metal  money, 
and  that  superabundance  must  be  followed  by  a  diminution  of  its 
relative  value.  But  as  such  diminution  in  one  place  by  no  means 
implies  a  cotemporaneous  diminution  in  other  places,  where  the 
expedient  of  bank  notes  is  not  resorted  to,  and  where,  consequently, 
no  such  superabundance  of  the  commodity,  money,  exists,  money 


NOTES.  409 

naturally  resorts  thither,  and  is  attracted  to  the  spot  where  it  bears 
the  highest  relative  value,  or  is  exchangeable  for  the  largest  quantity 
of  other  goods;  in  other  words,  it  flows  to  the  markets  where  com- 
modities are  cheapest,  and  is  replaced  by  goods,  of  value  equal  to 
the  money  exported."     Say,  B.  I.  c.  xxii.     Am.  edit.  vol.  I.  p.  246. 

He  goes  on  to  prove  that  the  national  capital  must  be  augmented 
by  the  specie  exported,  and  fixes  the  utmost  quantity  by  which  it 
can  so  be  increased,  at  one  tenth  of  the  annual  product  or  revenue 
of  the  nation. 

Now  I  maintain,  that  to  effect  the  same  transactions,  it  requires 
far  less  bankers  money,  wliether  that  money  be  paper  or  specie, 
than  was  required  of  the  money  in  existence  before  the  establish- 
ment of  banks,  the  celerity  of  motion  making  up  for  the  deficiencies 
of  quantity,  and  tliat  what  Adam  Smith  asserts  concerning  the 
comparative  efficiency  of  the  two  kinds  of  money  circulated  by 
consumers  and  dealers,  holds  true  of  that  money  of  which  the  bank 
forms  the  centre  of  circulation,  as  compared  with  that,  which, 
where  there  are  no  banks,  circulates  slowly  and  after  intervals  of 
inactivity  between  dealer  and  dealer,  and  that  the  one  by  "  a  more 
rapid  circulation,  serves  as  the  instrument  of  many  more  purchases 
than  the  other,"  and,  consequently,  that  if  the  same  number  of 
transactions  only  takes  place  after  the  establishment  of  banks,  as 
before  their  introduction,  then  much  less  money  will  be  necessary, 
and  if  the  same  money  be  circulated,  the  fact  indicates,  that  a  great 
addition  has  been  made  to  the  business  transacted,  and  still  more 
if  the  money  circulated  exceeds  that  formerly  circulated.  It  is 
this  last  event,  that,  I  conceive,  generally  takes  place.  In  this,  as 
in  other  instances  of  real  improvements,  the  effect  is  contrary  to 
what  might  have  been  anticipated,  the  greater  facility  in  performing 
the  operation  bringing  so  much  greater  a  compass  of  materials 
within  its  reach,  that  the  occupation  given  to  the  art,  instead  of 
diminishing,  increases,  and  by  the  subdivision  of  employments, 
and  abandonment  of  barter,  money  comes  to  be  so  much  more  used 
as  an  instrument  of  exchange,  that,  on  the  whole,  the  quantity  of  it 
employed  is  augmented,  in  the  same  way,  as  when  a  road  is  much 
improved,  though  one  horse  may  be  sufficient  to  transport  what 
three  did  before,  yet  the  commodities  transported  so  increase,  that 
there  are,  notwithstanding,  thrice  the  number  of  horses  employed. 
This  is  especially  the  case  in  new  countries,  where,  from  causes 
specified  in  the  text,  money  before  the  existence  of  banks  is  exces- 
sively scarce. 

If  the  reader  have  still  any  doubts  on  the  sv'  ject,  lie  may,  I  con- 
ceive, satisfy  himself  of  the  accuracy  of  this  view,  by  reference  to 
the  pages  of  the  "Wealth  of  Nations"  itself.  Adam  Smith,  by  no 
means,  limits  the  advantages  of  banking  as  practised  in  Scotland, 
to  the  substitution  of  paper  for  specie,  and  the  direct  fictitious  capital 
thus  created.  On  the  contrary,  he  thinks  that  every  person  dealing 
with  the  banker,  that  is,  every  person  engaged  in  business,  derives 
individually  very  great  advantages  from  the  system.  These  advan- 
tages are  resolvable  into  the  circumstance,  that  every  such  person 
is  free  from  the  necessity  of  keeping  any  money  by  him.     What- 

52 


410  NOTES. 

ever  demands  are  made  on  him  he  answers  by  means  of  his  cash 
credit,  or  by  discounting  a  bill,  or  bills.  In  this  way  "  partly  by  the 
conveniency  of  discounting  bills,  and  partly  by  that  of  cash  accounts, 
the  creditable  traders  of  the  country  are  dispensed  from  the  neces- 
sity of  keeping  any  part  of  their  stock  by  them  unemployed,  and  in 
ready  money,  for  answering  occasional  demands."  *  Now  it  is 
certainly  very  remarkable,  that  it  did  not  strike  Adam  Smith,  that 
if  all  the  creditable  dealers  in  the  community,  that  is,  the  great  ma- 
jority of  those  who  before  the  establishment  of  banks  would  have 
kept  money  by  them,  will  by  the  facilities  given  by  the  art,  be  dis- 
pensed with  the  necessity  of  doing  so,  and  can  still  carry  on  equally 
extensive  transactions,  the  money  requisite  to  transact  the  general 
business  of  the  country  must  be  diminished  by  that  amount.  If, 
for  example,  according  to  the  estimate  he  makes,  the  specie  in  cir- 
culation in  Scotland  before  the  introduction  of  banking,  was  about 
one  million  sterling,  after  the  establishment  of  that  art,  had  the  ex- 
changes effected  remained  the  same,  a  much  less  sum  than  one 
million  would  have  been  sufficient  to  perform  them,  for  all  that 
money  would  have  been  useless  which  it  had  before  been  necessary 
to  keep  in  the  coffers  of  the  different  dealers,  and  which  formed  the 
great  mass  of  the  then  circulating  medium,  or  rather  of  the  medium 
through  the  intervention  of  which  exchanges  were  transacted.  If, 
then,  a  million  had  been  still  employed,  —  if  a  million  of  the  bankers 
paper  had  superseded  a  million  of  coin, —  it  would  have  indicated, 
as  I  have  stated  in  the  text,  a  great  increase  in  the  transfers  effected, 
and  would  have  shown,  either  "that  a  larger  compass  of  materials 
had  been  brought  within  reach  of  the  accumulative  principle,  or 
that  employments  had  been  more  subdivided,  or  that  both  circum- 
stances had  occurred."  f 

According  to  Adam  Smith,  the  bank  saves  each  dealer  from 
keeping  by  him  in  ready  money,  all  that  amount  which  it  advances 
him  by  means  of  the  cash  account  it  opens  with  him,  or  by  dis- 
counting the  bills  he  presents.  What  in  this  way,  then,  all  the 
banks  advance  to  all  the  dealers,  deducting  from  it  the  amount  of 
paper  circulated,  must  be  so  much  which  they  save  them  from  being 
obliged  to  keep  by  them.  But  this  is  the  employment  to  which, 
where  banking  is  properly  conducted,  bankers  devote  their  whole 
funds,  and  by  this  mode  of  reckoning  the  saving  effected  by  them 
in  Scotland  might  be  made  to  appear  equal  to  thirty  millions  of  specie. 
Were  banking,  however,  as  a  distinct  business,  totally  abolished 
in  that  country,  the  event  certainly  would  not  bring  into  it  thirty 
millions  of  specie.  The  effects  produced  by  such  an  event  would 
consist  in  a  diminution  of  the  number  of  exchanges,  and,  con- 
sequently, of  the  division  and  subdivison  of  employments,  and  of 
the  capacity  given  to  materials,  the  transaction  of  many  exchanges 
by  barter,  and  the  generalization  of  a  large  amount  of  them  by 
transfers  from  hand  to  hand.  Specie  would  only  come  in,  in  suffi- 
cient abundance  to  make  up  the  balance. 

*  Book  II.  c.  ii. 
t  Page  188. 


NOTES.  411 

To  conclude  ;  in  my  opinion  the  notion  from  which  Adam  Smith 
sets  out,  and  which,  since  his  time,  has  kept  possession  of  all  specu- 
lations on  this  subject,  and  been  the  foundation  of  many  important 
practical  measures,*  is  essentially  erroneous.  According  to  him, 
there  is  always  a  certain  sum  of  money  necessary  to  carry  on  the 
transactions  of  every  society,  the  amount  of  which  is  proportioned 
to  the  transactions  carried  on.  This  is  termed  the  circulating 
medium,  and,  whether  it  be  bank  paper,  or  specie  circulated  by  the 
banker,  or  coin  used  for  the  purposes  of  exchange  where  there  is 
no  bank,  it  is  reckoned  always  in  quantity  proportioned  to  the 
transactions  carried  on.  On  the  contrary,  it  seems  to  me,  that 
when  once  a  bank  is  established  in  any  community,  the  money 
circulated  among  those  who  are  its  customers,  serves  merely  the 
purpose  of  counters  for  arranging  their  transactions,  performing  the 
same  part  as  a  multiplicity  of  checks,  operating  upon  their  several 
accounts,  might  accomplish.  It  is  not  a  fund  kept  for  making  ex- 
changes, but  an  instrument  applied  for,  at  the  time  exchanges  are 
to  be  made,  and  operating  upon  the  real  fund  kept  for  that  purpose, 
the  claim,  viz.,  which  the  bank  has  on  the  general  stock  of  the 
community,  the  specie  deposited  in  its  vaults,  and  the  other  items 
making  up  its  capitol,  which,  like  the  coin  in  the  old  deposit  banks 
of  Italy  and  Holland,  constitute  that  part  of  the  general  stock, 
really  performing  the  function  of  exchange. 

If  this  be  the  case,  it  follows  that  the  more  perfect  as  an  art  bank- 
ing becomes,  the  less,  other  circumstances  being  equal,  is  the  amount 
of  the  circulating  medium  required,  and  the  greater  the  saving  to 
the  community.  It  also  follows,  that  a  system  of  banking  considered 
merely  as  a  means  of  transacting  exchanges  taking  place  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  affairs,  within  the  community,  approaches  nearest 
to  the  excellence  of  art,  when  it  most  effectually  secures  its  funds 
from  being  squandered,  and  when  the  counters  employed  by  it  in 
its  operations,  issue  from  it,  pass  through  the  hands  of  its  customers, 
and  find  their  way  back  to  it  most  easily  and  quickly.  The  former 
citcumsiance  diminishes  the  risk  of  loss  from  the  mode  of  effecting 
exchange,  the  latter  diminishes  the  expense  of  it. 

It  may  farther  be  observed  that  the  popular  notion,  that  the  ad- 
vantages of  banking  are  limited  to  the  substitution  of  paper  for 
specie,  and  the  creation  to  that  amount  of  a  fictitious  capital, 
is  altogether  erroneous.  The  advantages  derived  from  this 
source  are  rather  contingent,  than  essential.  They  fall  chiefly  to 
the  banker,  and,  as  he  may  be  considered  as  a  broker  having  the 
care  of  the  funds  of  certain  of  the  lenders  of  the  community,  for 
the  purpose  of  distributing  them  among  the  borrowers,  and  having 
to  be  paid  for  the  trouble,  the  expense,  and  the  risk  of  loss  attending 
his  business,  this  mode  of  paying  him  may  be  the  most  convenient 
that  can  be  devised.  The  real  advantage  however  of  the  art,  arises 
from  its  application  of  the  floating  loans  of  the  society  to  the  pur- 

*  As  for  instance,  the  contraction  of  issues  by  the  bank  of  England  in  1826, 
(the  immediate  cause  of  the  disasters  of  that  year,)  and  the  legislative  enact- 
ments on  British  currency  for  the  last  twenty  years. 


412  NOTES. 

poses  of  exchange  ;  and,  instead  of  the  paper  money  issued  being 
the  cause  and  the  measure  of  the  good  derived  from  it,  the  less  the 
quantity  of  such  money,  in  proportion  to  the  business  transacted 
with  it,  the  smaller  the  expense  of  the  business  of  exchange  to  the 
trading  community,  and  the  greater  tlie  benefits  the  banker  bestows 
on  it.  And,  again ;  in  cases  where  bank  paper  makes  the  general 
currency,  instead  of  the  partial  or  total  abolition  of  banking,  only 
requiring  the  substitution  of  a  quantity  of  specie,  equal  to  the  paper 
withdrawn  from  circulation,  it  would,  in  proportion  as  it  were  partial 
or  total,  compel  the  substitution  of  a  much  larger  quantity  of  specie, 
or  a  proportional  diminution  of  the  exchanges  before  transacted, 
and,  in  either  case,  would  place  the  instruments  belonging  to  the 
society  in  more  slowly  returning  orders,  lessen  the  amount  of  mate- 
rials within  reach  of  the  accunmlative  principle,  and  eventually 
occasion  a  proportional  diminution  of  the  national  stock. 


H.     Page  249. 

Since  the  passage  in  the  text  was  written,  the  art  of  the  applica- 
tion of  .steam,  as  an  agent  in  transport  by  water,  has  made  a  farther 
step.  It  consists  in  a  passage  of  the  engine  used  in  land  carriage, 
to  that  used  in  water  carriage.  Besides  this,  however,  the  germ  of 
some  other  principles  has  appeared,  which,  it  seems  probable,  will 
ultimately  produce  a  great  and  important  revolution  in  the  art.  It 
is  remarkable,  that  the  site  of  this  event  is  also  the  Hudson. 


I.     Page  276. 

I  have  seen  many  of  the  Indians  in  Canada,  when  in  high  dress, 
clothed  in  the  finest  English  cloth,  of  which  they  are,  I  am  told, 
excellent  judges ;  certainly,  however,  in  the  way  they  wear  it,  the 
Indian  blanket,  one  made  thick  for  the  purpose,  with  a  broad  blue 
border,  makes  a  more  convenient  and  more  becoming  robe.  The 
almost  irresistable  passion  which  these  people  have,  for  whatever 
they  perceive  esteemed  precious  by  others,  must  have  struck  every 
one  having  had  any  intercourse  with  them ;  perhaps  the  following 
anecdote  may  be  worth  relating,  as  in  some  degree  illustrative  of  it. 
I  was  once  voyaging  with  a  friend  in  a  small  canoe,  when  we 
chanced  to  keep  company  for  two  or  three  days  with  some  Indians 
in  another,  one  of  whom  a  severe  intermittant  had  reduced  to  a 
mere  skeleton.  One  forenoon  when  we  stopped  for  a  little,  they 
requested  us  to  come  close  to  thein,  and  open  a  case  we  had,  to 
let  the  sick  man  examine  it.  Having  done  as  they  desired,  the 
invalid  seemed  sadly  disappointed.  "  I  thought,"  he  said,  "  when 
I  saw  it  at  a  distance  yesterday,  that  the  inside  was  silver,  and  it 


NOTES.  413 

seemed  to  me  it  would  do  me  good  to  look  at  it,  but  it  is  only  tin." 
The  expression  of  his  countenance  and  voice  showed  that  he  fan- 
cied the  sight  of  so  much  silver,  would  have  acted  like  a  cordial, 
and  so  I  dare  say  it  would.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  it  is  noi  the 
custom  of  Indians  to  make  requests  having  an  air  of  impertinence 
of  strangers,  or  to  express  disappointment. 


J.     Page  285. 

A  gentleman  of  my  acquaintance,  who  had  been  long  among  the 
Indians,  and  ranked  among  them  as  a  brother  warrior,  once  travel- 
led a  great  distance  in  the  far  interior  to  visit  a  chief  His  friend 
received  him  in  the  spirit  of  hospitality  natural  to  the  red  man.  In 
proof  of  it,  he  declared  he  would  feast  him,  as  he  had  seen  white 
men  feasting  their  friends,  —  for  he  too  had  been  a  traveller.  Ac- 
cordingly, his  "womankind"  not  being  adequate  to  the  task,  he 
set  about  cooking  and  serving  dinner  himself,  and,  considering  all 
things,  succeeded  wonderfully.  As  imitators,  however,  will  often 
copy  rather  defects  than  merits,  so  the  relish  of  the  repast  would 
have  been  somewhat  improved,  by  his  memory  having  been  a  little 
less  tenacious  of  a  few,  of  what  doubtless  seemed  to  him  the  strange 
ceremonies  of  the  white  men.  For  example ;  he  had  seen  at  the 
houses  of  some  of  his  white  friends,  their  young  men  employed 
rubbing  the  dishes,  off  of  which  the  guests  ate,  with  a  small  square 
piece  of  cloth.  Now,  the  only  piece  of  cloth,  like  this,  which  he 
happened  to  have,  formed  an  article  of  dress  in  use  among  the  In- 
dians, but  unknown,  and  undescribable  by  modern  Europeans.  It 
seems,  notwithstanding,  to  have  been  in  use  among  their  ancestors, 
being,  if  I  mistake  not,  that  very  garment,  of  which  Ulysses  threat- 
ened to  strip  the  unhappy  Thersytes,  the  day  he  made  him  feel  that 
he  did  not  bear  the  sceptre  in  vain. 

To  divest  himself  of  it,  was  no  doubt  an  inconvenience,  but  this 
was  not  to  be  reckoned  in  the  service  of  a  guest.  Accordingly,  hang- 
ing it  over  his  arm,  he  rubbed  his  visitor's  platter  with  it  very  care- 
fully, at  every  change.  My  friend  had  nothing  for  it  but  to  honor 
the  care  of  his  host  by  eating  gravely  and  abundantly.  Had  he 
done  otherwise,  the  chief,  who  was  himself  the  most  polite  of  men, 
would  have  regarded  it  as  an  unpardonable  grossierete. 


K.     Page  345. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  said,  that  the  strictness  of  the  inductive  method 
can  only  apply  to  the  sciences  treating  of  mere  matter  and  its  affec- 
tions.    This  were  to  declare  the  same  thing  to  be,  and  not  to  be,  a 


414  NOTES. 

science  of  experiment,  and  is  besides  in  opposition  to  the  authority 
of  the  founder  of  the  inductive  philosophy. 

"  Etiam  dubitabit  quispiam  potius  quam  objiciet;  utrum  nos  de 
natural!  tantum  philosophia,  an  etiam  de  scientiis  reliquis,  logicis, 
ethicis,  politicis,  secundum  viam  nostram  perficiendis  loquamur. 
At  nos  certe  de  universis  hsec,  qua3  dicta  sunt,  intelligimus  :  Atque 
quemadmodum  vulgaris  logica,  qufe  regit  res  per  sylloaismum,  non 
tantum  ad  Naturales,  sed  ad  omnes  scientias  pertinet ;  ita  et  nostra, 
quae  proceditper  inductioncm,  omnia  complectitur.  Tarn  enim  his- 
toriam  et  tabulas  inveniendi  conficimus  de  ira,  metu,  et  verccundia, 
et  similibus :  ac  etiam  de  exemplis  rerum  civilium ;  nee  minus  de 
motibus  mentalibus  memorio',  compnsitionis  et  divisionis,  judkii,  et 
reliquorum ;  quam  de  calido  et  frif^ido,  aut  luce,  aut  vcgetationc, 
aut  similibus."     Nov.  Org.  Lib.  I.  c.  cxxvii. 


KRRATA. 
Page  30,  line  2G  from  top,  for  "  members  "  read  numbers. 
"    32,    "    9  "       for  "  «i ore  "  read  from. 

"     111,  "   28  «       for"  C"  read  c. 

"     li34,  "  8  "      for  "(iirirfcfP'  read  directed. 

"     2(>9,  "  U  "       for  "  confent  "  read  constant. 

''     354,"    2  "      for  "■' rapidity '^  read  security. 

In  pages  349,  350,  only  part  of  Mr.  Storch's  opinions  on  the  subject  of  Ireland  are  quoted. 
There  ought  to  be  asterisks  to  mark  the  omissions. 


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